


Double Trouble

by Chef_Geekier



Category: CSI: Miami
Genre: F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-08-04
Updated: 2012-08-04
Packaged: 2017-11-11 09:30:57
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 50,041
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/477089
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chef_Geekier/pseuds/Chef_Geekier
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Horatio investigates a disturbing case of child abuse, he comes out with more than he bargained for - twin babies, and a chance at a relationship with a certain blonde-haired ballistics expert.</p>
<p>Warning: Contains much dark subject material in the first several chapters, interspersed with light-hearted comedy. Violence; mentions of rape, torture and child abuse; foul language. No graphic descriptions of the abuse, because even writing it squicks me out a little.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

A large man stood in a hallway, clenched his fist and cracked his knuckles. The girl in the kitchen flinched at the sound, knowing what was about to come. She continued preparing dinner, though she was shaking so badly that she knocked the chopped vegetables to the ground. It was just the opening the man had been looking for.

-DT-

Several miles away, Horatio Caine sank into the chair behind his desk. He had just wrapped up a case and now had to finish all the paperwork. It was the bane of his existence, taking precious time away from actually solving crimes. Horatio pulled the case file toward him and reviewed the notes his team had written, preparing to write the final report.

-DT-

The girl sat huddled in the corner, blood dripping from her nose and mouth. She didn't cry though - she was so used to the pain that she had stopped crying years ago. She cuddled her knees to her chest, trying to gain the strength to stand back up. She could hear the water on the stove top beginning to boil, and tried to pull herself up, before she fell to the ground. Her dark red hair spread around her like a halo, and she closed her eyes. This time, she knew, it wasn't going to be okay.

-DT-

Calleigh Duquesne signed her name with a flourish, humming a cheerful song to herself. She loved the feeling when a case was closed and she could go home for the whole weekend. Her heels clunked on the floor beneath her as she made her way up to Horatio's office. She knocked on the door and walked in without bothering to wait for an answer, smiling brightly at her boss.

"Hey Handsome. Final Ballistics report as requested."

"Thanks," he muttered, smiling at the sound of her voice. Her drawl had lulled many a man into a false sense of security, including him when she had first transferred to his team, and Horatio still liked to listen to it.

"So, do I get to go to that spa this weekend?" Calleigh perched on the edge of Horatio's desk. He knew that she had plans for the weekend, which she'd nearly had to cancel due to the case.

"Absolutely, Calleigh. Enjoy your weekend," Horatio nodded.

"Oh, I will. You know what the boys are up to?" She tilted her head to one side, wondering about her boss as well but unsure of how to ask him.

-DT-

The man stood over his wife's niece, glaring. Stupid little bitch had ruined dinner again. He shoved the rest of the meat into his mouth and swallowed, barely chewing. He took a moment, then smiled and tipped the boiling water from the stove top onto her head.

After a moment, he noticed that she hadn't screamed.

-DT-

Tim Speedle raised his arms above his head, stretching. His shoulders ached from hunching over microscopes and other equipment for most of the day, but he was happy none the less. Any minute now, he'd get a call from the girl he was seeing and he could tell her that dinner was back on.

He saw Calleigh headed up to Horatio's office and decided to join them. If he was lucky, he could get some more info for the betting pool. He had ten dollars riding on them already having slept together.

-DT-

Looking down at the girl, the man frowned. She hadn't moved. He kicked her brutally in the ribs and heard a crack, but there was no reaction. He leaned down and grabbed her hair, yanking her into a sitting position before letting go. Again, there was a crack as her head hit the floor, but she didn't let out so much as a whimper. Her chest was moving slightly, she was alive, but definitely unconscious.

Shrugging, he turned to leave. She'd wake up sooner or later.

-DT-

Eric Delko jogged down the corridor and caught up with Speed at the bottom of the stairs leading to Horatio's office.

"Hey man," the younger man grinned. "You all done for the night?"

"Yep. You?"

"Just dropping this off with H," Eric held up a sheaf of papers. "Then I'm outta here, got a date with a smokin' girl. Redhead, five feet six, biggest set of-"

"I get the picture," Speed rolled his eyes as they climbed the stairs.

"Eyes. I was going to say eyes," Eric grinned. "Why do you always think the worst of me?"

"Because it's usually right," Speed quipped. The two walked into the office together, laughing.

-DT-

Something was wrong. The man couldn't believe it - the little bitch had done something to the food. He couldn't breathe. He fell to his knees, clutching at his throat. He managed to crawl out of the front door, desperate to reach his car.

He was going to kill that little bitch.

-DT-

Dr. Alexx Woods wandered in, smiling at the team of the day shift. Her babies.

"Well, isn't this nice? Everyone able to go home for the night." Alexx was looking forward to the meal her husband was cooking for her and the kids. After that, she would take her kids to the cinema for the first time in months.

"It's wonderful," Calleigh smiled back. "Everyone has plans."

Speed shook his head.

"Which means that we're probably about to get a call-out."

"Shut up, Speed!" Eric punched his friend in the arm. "You're gonna make the phone ring with that attitude."

Horatio chuckled as his pager went off, to audible groans from his team. He glanced at the number, then shrugged.

"Don't worry, you lot. It's not a body. Director wants to talk to me." Horatio stood, before waving his team away. "Now get out of here, you've all got places to be. I don't want to see you until tomorrow morning at the earliest. Calleigh, enjoy your weekend."

"Oh, I will. Tell you all about it Monday."

"Looking forward to it, Sweetheart."

Speed and Eric shared a look, before turning and heading out.

-DT-

The girl lay comatose in the kitchen. Her skin was already starting to blister from the boiling water that had been poured on her face and neck. Blood was seeping from the back of her head. Her foot was twisted in completely the wrong direction, obviously broken. She had never been closer to death.

Out in the front garden, the man drew his last breath just as his wife came home. At the sound of her scream, her neighbour ran to her side, pulling out her cell phone at the same time.

-DT-

Eric and Speed had reached the elevator when they heard Calleigh.

"Damn it! Guys, get back here. We got a body."

"Shit," Speed swore. "I knew it."

-DT-

Horatio knelt over the body, removing his sunglasses for a better look. Alexx had already rolled him onto his back and started looking for any apparent cause of death. The man's face was a mask of terror, and Alexx poked at his throat.

"Hmm, there's some swelling. Respiratory failure, perhaps," she hypothesised.

"Did you notice that?" Horatio asked, pointing to the man's hands. There was blood on the knuckles and under the fingernails, though the man himself didn't appear injured. Dead, yes, but not injured. Alexx nodded.

"Baby's been in a fight recently. Could be what killed him." She opened his mouth to look inside, and frowned. "He's still got food in there. A mouthful of meat."

"Well Alexx," Horatio started, pulling out his sunglasses. "It looks like this time he bit off," he placed the sunglasses back on his face, "more than he could chew."

*Insert Title Sequence Here*

-DT-

Detective Sevilla, meanwhile, was trying to talk to the man's wife. She looked petrified, but at the same time determined that the CSIs wouldn't enter her house.

"It's not necessary, really. I don't know what happened, maybe he had a heart failure. He's always had a weak heart. But you don't need to go inside, there's nothing there of interest." The woman had a slight accent that Adell was trying to place, but not having much luck with. To her relief, she saw Horatio heading over.

"Horatio, this is Mrs Emily Andrews. She's identified the victim as her husband, Neil Andrews. Says she just came home to see him crawling towards his car, and he collapsed as she ran to him."

"I see," Horatio nodded. Adell seemed to want to say something more, so he waited a moment while she weighed up her instincts.

"I think there could be something going on in the house. She's adamant that no one enter. Says that since he died outside, the inside of the house is not relevant to your investigation."

Horatio raised an eyebrow.

"And what do you think of it?"

"Personally I think she's full of shit," Adell muttered. Horatio smiled.

"My sentiments as well. Not that I would put it like that, of course."

"Of course."

-DT-

While Adell had distracted Mrs Andrews with her questions, Calleigh and Speed had decided to take matters into their own hands, and had snuck in through the front door. Calleigh looked around at the beautiful house, impressed.

"Damn, this woman must spend more time cleaning than anything else! It's spotless!" She was amazed at the level of cleanliness displayed here.

"Yeah, wonder how many times a day she bathes," Speed retorted. He'd given Mrs Andrews a once-over, and hadn't found much to his tastes. She was far too angular for him.

"Well, maybe you can ask her-" Calleigh froze as she stepped into the kitchen. Speed stepped up behind her to see what the problem was, and his jaw dropped.

"That's just sick," he muttered when he could control his voice again. "I'll get Alexx and H."

Calleigh nodded dumbly as she approached the girl, blinking back the shock. No matter how many times she was called to crime scenes, things like this would always stay with her.

The girl looked to be no more than fourteen years old. Her long red hair was tangled and matted with blood. One foot had apparently been crushed at an early age and hadn't grown properly. The other was twisted almost completely around. One shoulder was obviously dislocated. The skin on her face, neck and upper chest was scalded. She was also naked, and Calleigh could see a patchwork of scars, some nearly faded with age, others just beginning to scab over.

Gently, Calleigh reached over to check her pulse, though she doubted the girl could have survived. To her horror, the pulse was still going, weak but steady. She heard Speed re-enter the house and screamed at him.

"Speed! Call rescue, she's still alive!"

-DT-

Within minutes, Mrs Andrews was in handcuffs and being taken back to the station. Speed had taken scrapings from Mr Andrews' fingernails and samples of the blood on his hands to match to the young girl they had found. Alexx was attempting to help the girl, though she hardly knew where to start.

"My poor baby," she murmured sympathetically. "No one deserves this, especially those who can't fight back." She gingerly felt along the girl's neck and determined that it wasn't broken, before rolling her onto her side to keep her from choking on her own blood. She then gently parted the girl's hair and examined the back of her head. While there was a fair bit of bleeding, it didn't seem like the skull had been broken.

The whole time, Horatio kept his hand on the girl's pulse, ready to alert Alexx if a problem arose. Her heartbeat, though, remained steady. If anything, it was getting stronger in the presence of people who spoke softly and with compassion.

After a few minutes, Alexx shook her head.

"Horatio, this girl should have died years ago. She's malnourished, obviously mistreated. How could she still be like this, and no one noticed?" She couldn't understand it, and part of her didn't want to. She was afraid that if she understood, maybe she would identify with the monster.

"I don't know, Alexx," Horatio sighed. "But she's made it this far. And we're not going to let her suffer any more. Right?"

"Right," Alexx nodded confidently.

At that moment, the paramedics entered, and the pair on the floor moved outside to give them some room.

\--

Outside, one of the neighbour's children was waiting for Horatio. She looked to be about the same age as the girl inside, and very frightened. Horatio motioned for her to step to one side with him.

"Hi there. What's your name, sweetheart?"

"Annie. Annie Descamps. I live next door," Annie pointed to her house, absently twirling her hair around one finger of the other hand. "I heard what happened to Mr Andrews, and about the girl inside, and I had to come talk to you."

"Okay. Maybe you can help us. What do you know about what happened?" Horatio removed his glasses again in an attempt to connect better to the young girl. She seemed to appreciate it, and hesitatingly started to open up.

"Sir, the girl inside… she's Holly Porter. She's Mrs Andrews' niece. She's lived here a long time, but no one's seen her in the last few months. We were told that she'd gone to live with some relatives of her father's."

"Why would she do that?" Horatio gently pushed.

"Her parents died when she was a baby. Her mother was Mrs Andrews' sister. She was sent here, along with her older brother. He went back to Africa to live with his father's family when he was ten, and Holly was just five. I think…" Annie paused, taking a deep breath. "I think that was when he started hurting her. Jimmy always protected Holly, but without him here, she was helpless.

"Mr Andrews hated the fact that he had to bring up kids that weren't his. He hated them. He had such a temper, and when things didn't go his way, he'd lash out. But none of the adults around would do anything about it. They always said that he was just disciplining them, that no harm would come of it." Annie looked close to tears, and Horatio had to fight back the anger at the ignorant people around him.

"But you knew different, didn't you?"

Annie nodded.

"They had a policeman come and talk to us at school once, about abuse. Before that, I don't think Holly realised that what he did to her was wrong. She just accepted it. After that, she started to question things – and it just got her into more trouble. She'd come to school with black eyes, or a broken jaw, and no one would do anything to help her.

"The older she got, the worse it got. A couple of years ago, I convinced her to go to the police. I went with her, thinking that maybe it would help her be strong enough to get help for herself. The policeman…" Annie started crying and covered her eyes. "He didn't believe her. Wouldn't even take a statement. Said she was over-reacting. He brought her back here and told Mr Andrews what she'd said!"

Horatio felt sick to his stomach. What kind of policeman would do that to a child?

"I didn't realise it until later. The policeman was a friend of Mr Andrews. He didn't know what a monster he was, didn't want to know! That was when… That was when…" Annie was now crying so hard she couldn't get the words out. Horatio reached out and took her hands in his, lending her his strength so she could finish her tale.

"I'm sorry. I just keep thinking, maybe if I'd tried harder, tried talking to someone else, maybe I could have saved her," Annie whispered.

"It's alright, you can't blame yourself. There was nothing more you could have done." He paused, not wanting to know the rest of the story but knowing that it was necessary. "Annie, what happened after you went to the police?"

Annie took a shuddering breath and looked Horatio in the eye.

"He raped her. It became the standard punishment."

\--

It was an open-and-shut case. Alexx found traces of rat poison in Mr Andrews' stomach, and all evidence supported Annie's story. Horatio reasoned that Holly must have finally snapped under the burden of abuse, and decided that the only way to save herself was to kill her tormentor.

Horatio wasn't sure that he disagreed with her.

They were just waiting for the girl to wake up, when a social worker would talk to her. They had confirmed that she was fifteen years old, though through malnutrition and abuse she looked much younger. Everyone was free to leave for the weekend.

No one wanted to.

Calleigh knew that she couldn't relax with a massage while picturing Holly lying broken on the floor.

Alexx couldn't take her children to the movies when this child had been betrayed by her family.

Speed couldn't make love to his girlfriend knowing that a child had been raped.

Eric couldn't go dancing when this girl would probably never walk again.

And Horatio knew exactly what Holly had gone through.

-DT-

Horatio sat at his desk, immobile, waiting for the phone to ring. Downstairs in the holding cell, Mrs Andrews was trying to plead her innocence, saying that she hadn't known about the abuse. No one believed that for a moment – there was simply too much damage for it to have been going on under her nose without her knowledge.

Before his eyes, Horatio watched as his own childhood unfolded. He had come out of it alright. Not unscathed, but he had survived. How close had he come to not making it?

How close had Holly come?

He knew he should be trying to track down her older brother and other family, but he couldn't move. Cases like this hit far too close to home for comfort.

A knock at his door shook him from his reverie, and he turned to see Alexx waiting for him. Her wan smile told him that she was just as shaken as him, though she tried to put on a brave face.

"Horatio, you should be at home. You know that they'll call you when she wakes up, and you'll be no use if you're dead on your feet."

"I know," Horatio nodded. "I also know that I won't be sleeping for the next few nights."

"You need something to knock you out for a while?" The doctor gently offered, taking a seat in front of the desk. Horatio just shook his head.

"It's not the getting to sleep that worries me."

Alexx sighed, knowing what he was talking about. As much as she knew he needed the rest, she knew he didn't need the nightmares. None of them did, but Horatio always felt the after-shock more keenly than the rest of them in a case of child abuse or neglect.

The two sat in silence for several minutes, taking comfort from the other's presence.

-DT-

At the hospital, Holly had been moved from emergency into the ICU. She seemed stable, but until she woke they wouldn't move her to the children's ward. The nurse watching her sighed as she checked the monitors, ensuring that her vital signs were still going strong. She wondered what Holly would be like when she woke up – and wondered if maybe staying asleep would be a better option.

After all, the girl had no parents, her aunt had basically abandoned her, and her uncle had abused her. She had murdered the man, and would be facing charges when she awoke.

It went against all her training, but nurse Janice O'Reilly was sorely tempted to ensure that she didn't wake. Surely a peaceful slip into eternal slumber would be preferable to suffering the rest of her life. As she shook her head and turned to leave, a movement caught her eye. She turned back, and saw Holly's hand clenching and unclenching.

After a moment, dark brown eyes opened a sliver, and for the first time in weeks, a whimper passed Holly's lips.

-DT-

The ringing phone startled Horatio, and he nearly knocked it off the table as he reached for it. Composing himself, he spoke into the handset.

"Lieutenant Caine," his voice was steady. Alexx watched as Horatio's eyes narrowed, then cleared. It seemed it wasn't entirely bad news.

"Thank you Doctor. I'm on my way there now." He hung up the phone without waiting for a response, and Alexx stood at the same time as him.

"Hospital. Holly's awake, she might be able to answer some questions."

"Maybe. But we both know that's not why you're going there," Alexx commented. "You just want to see that she's okay with your own eyes."

Horatio ducked his head, smiling slightly.

"You know me too well, Alexx."

"That could never happen. Now go on, you'll sleep better after."

-DT-

Twenty minutes later, Horatio stood outside of the ICU and watched as nurse O'Reilly gave Holly some more painkillers. She hadn't spoken to anyone yet, and Horatio had to wait until the social worker was present before entering. He had no desire to charge Holly with anything, but knew he didn't have a whole lot of choice. He'd talk to the director anyway, once he'd spoken with the girl.

Inside, Holly looked around with half-lidded eyes. She was so tired, but determined to stay awake this time. Things were strange – she'd never been in a room like this before. There were strange machines around her, beeping at her. She was a little frightened, but kept quiet. Beatings at an early age had taught her not to question things.

Horatio paced the hallway, waiting for Child Services to get their act in gear. He was annoyed at how long this was taking, though it was difficult for a casual observer to know this. He kept his face the usual blank mask, while silently cursing whoever had been given Holly's case.

Eventually, a young man in a suit appeared, clutching a briefcase and looking perturbed.

"Lieutenant Caine?" He asked in a slightly breathless voice. Horatio nodded. "Jeremy Palmer, Child Services. Is the girl in there?"

"Her name is Holly," Horatio nearly growled through gritted teeth. "And she's awake, and probably terrified right about now, so I suggest you get in there and reassure her."

Jeremy looked very unsure of himself.

"Well, uh, you see…" he stuttered for a moment, then hung his head. "I've never done this before. I only transferred to Child Services a month ago, this is my first case going solo. I, uh…" he trailed off as Horatio pushed him aside and went into Holly's room, muttering under his breath.

Holly fought to open her eyes more as a tall man came into the room. He had red hair, similar to her own but much lighter, and was wearing sunglasses. He also seemed angry, and she tried to sink into the mattress to get away.

As he approached her, however, his demeanour changed, smoothing out the angry creases of his face and slowing his forceful walk. When he was a couple of feet away from her, he stopped and removed his sunglasses, his bright blue eyes meeting her dark brown ones. Holly didn't speak, waiting for him to tell her what she was meant to do.

"Hello, Holly," Horatio started, trying to be soothing. "My name is Horatio. I work at the Miami-Dade Crime Lab. Do you know what that is?"

Holly shook her head, looking a little confused.

"It's a place where we look at the evidence from crimes, and use it to catch the bad guys. This afternoon, we were called to your house. Do you remember why?"

Holly nodded this time. She had done a bad thing. She would have to be punished.

"Well, when we got to your house, two of my people found you. You'd been badly hurt, so we brought you here. We also examined you and the house, and found evidence that your uncle had been hurting you. Is that correct?"

Another nod, this time shaky. Her breathing was becoming erratic as well, as she imagined what the punishment would be this time.

Horatio noticed her starting to panic, and closed the distance between them, taking her hand in his.

"It's going to be okay, Holly. You're safe now. He's never going to hurt you again, and I'm going to make sure you're taken care of. I promise."

Finally, Holly broke down and started crying. She raised her free hand to her face in an attempt to hide it, but at the same time she clung to Horatio's hand with all her strength. She recognised his voice from the kitchen, and couldn't help but trust him. He was so gentle, and his voice was so calm. If anyone was going to look after her, surely it was this man.

-DT-

Horatio continued to hold Holly's hand as she let out the emotions she'd kept bottled for so long. He was in no rush to leave her.

After a while, a knock on the door drew his attention. An elderly doctor was standing there, holding a file and with a face like thunder. Horatio gently withdrew his hand and moved over to him.

"Lieutenant Caine, I hope you're not causing my patient any further stress," Dr Chesterfield glared. Horatio just shrugged it off – he and the good doctor had had many run-ins in the past, and understood one another well enough. Grumbling, the doctor went back to the file in his hand.

"It says that she has no further relatives in Miami. You're trying to track down her brother, I take it," he commented. "In the mean time, who is taking responsibility for her? If her so-called aunt is, then I'm filing an injunction."

Horatio smiled at that, and then paused. There wasn't really anyone, and the useless agent from Child Services didn't exactly present an ideal candidate. He shrugged, knowing that he'd already decided.

"I will, doctor. What can you tell me?"

Dr Chesterfield narrowed his eyes at Horatio, scrutinising him for a minute, then relaxed.

"Well, she could do a lot worse than you, I suppose. Basically, she's dying. There's been far too much damage done to her internal organs. I'd say they'll start failing in a couple of months, and she'll be dead within the year. We can try transplants, but with the amount of organs needed, I don't think we'll have much luck. And there's… something else."

Horatio nodded, waiting.

"Lieutenant, she's pregnant. Twenty-two weeks, I'm afraid. I can't legally give her an abortion. It's amazing that she hasn't already miscarried, but she's stronger than she looks. If it looks like she can't make it, we'll remove the children as early as possible, but we're working in a very fuzzy area of medical law here."

"Wait… children?" Horatio had noticed the plural, even through the shock.

"Twins," the doctor nodded. "Young Holly there is the epitome of bad luck, I'm afraid."

Horatio turned to look at the young girl, processing this new information.

"Doctor, do you think she knows she's pregnant?"

"It's possible, but from the state of her I don't think she's had much in the way of health education. Even if she noticed the symptoms, it's more likely that she would have put them down to the abuse. What are you thinking?"

"I'm thinking that she could deal with the abuse to herself, but couldn't risk him hurting her child. She killed her uncle to protect her unborn children."

-DT-

Back at the lab, Speed was attempting to locate Jimmy Porter. Mrs Andrews had given him the name of the boy's relatives, but he was having a lot of trouble finding them. No one he called seemed to know who he was talking about.

As Horatio was driving back to the lab, Speed eventually located them – in the obituaries. It seemed that five years ago, Jimmy and his uncles were flying back to the states, presumably to collect Holly, when their plane had crashed. There had been no survivors.

-DT-

Horatio drove back to the lab deep in thought. There was no way he was going to just leave the girl like that. An idea was already forming in his head, but he wanted to talk to Alexx first. She would likely back him up completely, for which he was grateful, but he knew that talking it out would help.

He found her back in Autopsy, taking inventory. He watched for a moment, before she noticed him.

"Hey there. What's the verdict?"

"Well Alexx," Horatio started, "She's twenty two weeks pregnant and dying. She'll probably survive the birth, but not much longer than that."

"Oh, the poor girl… what's going to happen to her?" Alexx's maternal instincts had kicked into overdrive, and Horatio was sure that she'd approve of his plan.

"I'm not letting her aunt get anywhere near her. The DA has agreed that we're not going to prosecute her for her uncle's murder, since she's probably never going to leave hospital again and given the amount of provocation." Alexx nodded, pleased with that. "And… I have an idea that I want to run past you."

"Okay, shoot."

"I'm going to apply for temporary custody of Holly, and when the twins are born I'll adopt them."

Alexx stood watching Horatio for several minutes, until he started to get uncomfortable. Then she smiled.

"Baby, I hope you realise what you're getting into. Twins are going to be a lot of work by yourself."

"I know. But after everything that they and Holly have already been through, I'm not going to stand back and let them get shunted around orphanages, and maybe taken away from each other. We both know that I'm in a good position to provide for them."

"And you've always been good with kids," Alexx conceded.

"Exactly. I honestly think that I can make it work." He looked at Alexx, apparently needing her approval before putting things into motion. She thought again, though she knew that he'd already made up his mind.

"I suggest you talk it over with Holly first," she said as she turned back to work. "But I have a feeling you're going to get your way."

-DT-

Horatio had decided to wait until morning to talk to Holly about his plan. She needed the rest, and so did he. Climbing into bed, his thoughts centred on the broken young girl and the precious gift she carried. Horatio had never really had a lot of luck keeping a girlfriend – he always loved them and treated them well, but women rarely liked the fact that his job had always come first. He just didn't know how to switch off and just be Horatio around them, rather than Lieutenant Caine. But if his adoption application was approved, he was determined to learn.

-DT-

Horatio pushed open the door to Holly's hospital room. He'd already had her transferred onto his health insurance plan, and ensured that she was in her own room, away from prying eyes. Given the scalds on her face and the numerous scars, people had a tendency to stare at the poor girl.

He noted that she was asleep again. She seemed to spend a lot of time sleeping, and was often disoriented when she was awake. The doctors had confirmed that it was due to head trauma, and there was little that they could do.

She stirred a little, and Horatio sat by her bedside. His team had been starting to worry, and he didn't blame them. Ever since they had found Holly, he had either been working or sitting with her at the hospital.

Gently taking her small hand in his, Horatio sighed. None of his team really knew why child abuse cases affected him so deeply. Alexx knew more than most – that he and his brother had suffered years of abuse at the hands of their father – but even she didn't know the details. And Horatio never told her how the elder Caine had died.

Wrapped in his morbid thoughts, Horatio didn't notice that Holly had woken until she squeezed his hand. He raised his gaze to meet hers and was surprised to see a small smile.

"You look sad," she whispered. Talking too much was still painful for her.

"I guess I am," Horatio nodded. "I'm worried about you, too. Has the doctor spoken to you yet?"

"Yes. I'm pregnant and dying. The first part was a bit of a shock."

"But not the dying part?"

"I always knew I wouldn't make it out of there. You bought me a little time, and I'm grateful that my babies will live, but I was never going to survive."

Horatio nodded again. Part of him was glad that she wasn't in hysterics. Another part was furious that she had been so badly hurt that she didn't mind dying.

"I wanted to talk to you," he started again, "about your babies. The only family that you have left is your aunt, and I'm not letting her take custody. In fact, she's going to be in jail for a few years. So I was hoping that you would let me adopt them."

Holly looked at him for several minutes, as if she was judging him. It made Horatio rather uncomfortable, but he didn't say anything. This was a lot to ask of her, he knew. Then she spoke.

"If it's a choice between her, an orphanage or you, at least I know that you won't let anyone hurt them. What do I need to do?"

Horatio squeezed her hand.

"You let me sort it out. I promise I'll take care of them."

Holly closed her eyes for a moment, smiling.

"Y'know, I believe you will."

-DT-

The next day, Horatio brought in a lawyer so that Holly could write up a will naming him legal guardian of her children. According to the lawyer, this would make it far easier to formally adopt them after Holly was dead. Horatio wasn't sure he liked the lawyer's callous attitude towards her death, but didn't make any point of it right then.

Once the lawyer had left, Horatio stayed by Holly's side. She seemed to be having a more lucid day.

"H, I was thinking. What are you going to call them?"

"Me?" Horatio was surprised. "I… I hadn't thought about it. I figured that you'd want to name your children."

But Holly shook her head.

"They're going to be yours. You're the one who will teach them to speak, what their names are…" As she trailed off, Horatio could tell she was close to tears and took her hand. "You're the one who's going to be part of their lives. You should name them."

"Okay. Okay," Horatio tried to soothe her. "Do we know what gender yet?"

"Not yet. They weren't co-operating for the ultrasound, apparently. So pick two of each."

"I'll have to think about it," Horatio murmured. What he meant was more along the lines of 'I need to ask Alexx for advice', but Holly didn't have to know that.

-DT-

When he asked Alexx, however, she just shrugged.

"It's a personal thing for each parent. And it can change several times before you settle on one. Hell, take my kids – I had planned on Chanelle and Alexander! But when they were born, suddenly those didn't feel like the right names."

Horatio sighed.

"They're going to be removed in about two months. I can't go into this unprepared, Alexx."

"Why not? Everyone else does." At his confused expression, she decided to elaborate. "Look Honey, no one is ever prepared for parenthood, no matter how much you try. All you can do is wing it and hope for the best."

-DT-

Horatio, however, was not a man who liked to 'wing it'. So that evening, after clearing his backlogged paperwork, he pulled a pad and pen towards him and started writing out different names that he liked the sound of. As different staff came to drop things off with him, he asked them to add to the list, and ended up with several good candidates through his team.

He then went through and crossed off any names that reminded him of crimes he'd investigated or people he didn't like. Given how many people he came into contact with in his line of work, that removed about three quarters of the list.

The next step was to look up the meanings of all the names and get rid of those with inappropriate meanings or associations.

In the end, he was left with a shortlist of five names for each gender. He'd show them to Holly and let her help narrow the list.

It would have to wait until tomorrow though. For now, he really needed to go home and sleep in his own bed, as opposed to the couch in his office or the chair at the hospital.

-DT-

 

"I like Rosalyn," Holly nodded. "Rosie's a nice nick-name. Laurie's nice too."

"Okay," Horatio nodded. "One girl named Rosalyn Holly Caine, and if there's another she's Laurie Alexandra. And for boys?"

"William," Holly was definite about that. "I really like William. With Nicholas as a runner up."

"Okay. Boys are William James and Nicholas Raymond."

Holly paused for a moment.

"I know where the Alexandra comes from, but who's Raymond?"

"My brother," Horatio looked down. "He was a cop too. He was killed in action a few years ago."

Holly took Horatio's hand and nodded in sympathy. The news of her own brother's death had been hard to take – especially since it seemed that he was coming to help her.

The two sat in silence for several minutes, before Horatio saw Holly rub her chest with her free hand.

"Are you in pain?" He asked, concerned. She just shrugged.

"I've had worse."

"I know that," Horatio muttered as he pressed the call button for the nurse. "But you don't have to put up with it anymore."

-DT-

The next eight weeks flew past. Horatio still divided his time between the lab and the hospital. Holly's condition continued to decline, especially her mental stability. She was plagued by nightmares and only recognised Horatio some of the time. More often than not, she would scream when anyone tried to touch her. At least, she tried to scream.

Her lungs were falling apart far more rapidly than had been anticipated. Combined with her failing heart, it had lowered her life expectancy to just a few more weeks. The decision was made to deliver the babies via c-section as soon as possible, rather than risk having Holly's failing body harm them.

Horatio knew that the newborns would be kept in the maternity ward's ICU section for at least a month before he could take them home, but he still felt slightly panicked. He hadn't even thought about setting up a nursery yet, and he hadn't actually told the rest of his team about the pending adoption. He knew that they would want him to tell them, but he couldn't find the right way to say that he'd become so involved with a victim.

Sighing, he had pulled into his driveway before the other vehicles in front of his house registered in his mind. Speed's motorcycle was leaning up against Delko's truck. Neither man was immediately visible. Horatio cautiously stepped out of his car and approached the front door. Turning the handle he found it unlocked, and he never left the door unlocked. He was about to enter when he heard a scream that sounded far too much like Calleigh.

He burst through the door just as the scream was drowned by hysterical laughter from two males.

"Timothy Speedle, I'll get you for that!" The southern belle shrieked as she chased Speed down the hall toward the front door. Both froze as they saw Horatio with his gun drawn, before exchanging sheepish smiles. Eric chose that moment to step out of the spare room they'd been in, and muttered "whoops," under his breath.

Looking at his team, Horatio chuckled. They were all sweaty from exertion, and had splatters of pale yellow paint on their old, baggy clothes. Calleigh, however, also had a yellow hand-print on her cheek, and Speed's hand was yellow.

Without a word to them, Horatio walked into what had been his spare room and blinked in surprise.

The walls were now pale yellow, with a frieze of teddy bears dressed as cops and robbers running around the room at head-level. There were also two cribs, one decorated with various fish and aquatic animal decals, the other with bugs and insects. There was a changing table set up under the window, and several opened boxes which told him the baby furniture had been bought and assembled by his three CSIs.

Calleigh stepped up behind him, seeing the need to explain.

"Alexx told us that you're going to adopt the twins, and that you hadn't converted the room yet. So we decided to help you out."

"How did you get in?" was the first question that came to mind. Horatio looked around and caught the slightly guilty look on Eric's face.

"Uh, you remember last Christmas, when we got you completely wasted at Alexx's party, and I drove you home?" Horatio nodded, wincing slightly at the memory. Alexx had neglected to tell him just how strong the punch was, and the three standing in front of him had kept bringing him a new glass every time his ran dry.

"Well, you had to tell me where the spare key was kept so I could help you inside, and you haven't moved it since then."

Closing his eyes briefly, Horatio nodded. Trust him to have a team who would get him drunk and then use the information gathered to break into his house.

Then again, they had taken care of the nursery problem, so he couldn't really get mad at them. Instead, he smiled.

"Well, a job like this deserves payment. Who's hungry? Dinner's on me."

-DT-

By the time the pizzas arrived, the three decorators were looking presentable again. Eric helped Horatio move the old furniture into the garage, while Speed and Calleigh flattened the boxes and threw out the rubbish. Dinner was a lively affair, with plenty of teasing and easy banter. Horatio hadn't smiled so much in months, and he realised that his stress had been affecting his team as well.

Now, however, they were all relaxed and enjoying life. Eric told stories about various girls he'd met a clubs. Calleigh spoke about being on patrol in New Orleans during Mardi Gras, which was always interesting. Speed recalled the amount of times he'd been pulled over for traffic violations, and the myriad ways he'd gotten out of losing his license. And Horatio laughed along with the others, and provided some stories from when he was on the bomb squad.

It was nearly ten when the phone rang. Horatio picked it up, still laughing from Speed's impersonation of Rick Stettler.

"Caine speaking," he attempted to sound respectable.

"Lieutenant Caine, this is Dr Wilkinson. I'm afraid Holly has gone into cardiac arrest. We want to retrieve the babies, but we don't think she'll survive the procedure. We need-"

"Start it," Horatio whispered, cutting him off. The laughter at the table had stopped. From their boss' posture, all three knew it was bad news. "I give permission. I'll be there soon."

"Thank you Lieutenant," the doctor said before hanging up. Horatio turned back to the others.

"Holly's dying. They're removing the babies now."

Speed, Eric and Calleigh rose from the table in unison.

"We're coming with you," Calleigh spoke for all three. Horatio nodded and grabbed his car keys, fighting to stay focussed, yet he was thankful. If his team was with him, he could keep from panicking. He would never lose control in front of them.

Horatio locked the front door while the team climbed into his car. They seemed to have decided that Horatio wasn't allowed to be alone right now – and he was immensely thankful for it. When he sat behind the wheel, Calleigh was next to him, Speed behind him, and Eric behind Calleigh. All three were watching him in silence as he started the car and broke several road laws, making the 30-minute trip in just under 10 minutes. It helped that he knew exactly where all the speed traps and breath testers were.

Once at the hospital, he pulled them into the first available parking space. Horatio didn't quite run into the building, but he was moving faster than normal.

Part of him, however, wanted to turn around and go home. If he didn't go into the hospital, he could pretend that everything was fine, and wouldn't have to say goodbye to the young girl who'd come to mean so much to him. His practical side, however, gave him a figurative slap upside the head for thinking like that. Holly was dying whether he entered or not, but at least he could be there for her children.

It didn't take long to be directed towards the operating theatre where the surgeons had already started Holly's c-section. Horatio was given some scrubs by a nurse, and led inside. The others had to stay in the waiting room, looking anxiously from each other to the door.

An hour later, nurses rolled two humidicribs out of the doors. Inside each was a baby so tiny that they didn't seem real. The heart monitors on them, however, relayed steady heartbeats.

The three CSIs jumped to their feet, torn between following the nurses and waiting for Horatio. Eric decided it for them.

"Calleigh, you stay with H. Speed and I'll keep our eyes on the kids."

Calleigh nodded and moved to the door of the operating theatre where a doctor was waiting for her. Speed and Eric quickly caught up to the nurses. Speed glanced at Eric and saw him eyeing the nurse's rear end. He rolled his eyes.

"You're hopeless, you know that, right?" He muttered to his friend, who merely laughed.

"Yeah, but it sure is fun."

-DT-

Meanwhile, Calleigh stood leaning against the wall just inside the theatre. She was simply watching Horatio, waiting for him to be ready to leave. He was sitting next to Holly's lifeless body, holding her rapidly cooling hand in his still warm one.

After a few minutes, she saw a doctor approach Horatio and lay a hand on his shoulder. He was moving his lips, but she couldn't make out the soft-spoken words from that distance. Horatio, on the other hand, nodded before leaning forward to place a chaste kiss on the young girl's forehead. Reluctantly, he stood and turned, finally noticing Calleigh standing there.

Neither spoke. Horatio just moved towards her, and she opened her arms. The man was obviously in desperate need of physical contact with the living.

Much too soon for Calleigh's liking, Horatio pulled back. He looked down at the ground for a moment before raising his eyes to look at her.

"Thank you, Calleigh. For everything."

She knew how much it cost Horatio to admit that he needed and appreciated her help, so she smiled as she shrugged.

"That's what friends are for, Horatio. Now come on, let's go see your children."

-DT-

They found Speed and Eric standing outside the nursery. To their surprise, Alexx was inside, looking over the babies' charts. At a raised eyebrow from Horatio, Speed shrugged.

"C'mon H, she'd have killed all of us if we didn't call her. When she got here, she promptly bullied the doc into letting her in."

"Yeah, she's in full-on mother mode," Eric added.

Horatio nodded, then knocked softly on the glass of the viewing window. Alexx looked up, then beckoned for him to enter. Once he was by her side, she gave him a brief but fierce hug.

"Hey Horatio. You have two beautiful kids. Rosalyn's perfectly healthy, if a little on the small side. Given how premature she was, that's understandable, and she'll stay here for another two or three weeks before being released, just to make sure she's growing at a healthy rate."

"And William?" Horatio asked about his new son. Alexx hesitated slightly before answering.

"It seems William's heart and lungs are a little under-developed," she informed him gently. "The doctors will watch his growth carefully. With a little luck he'll be just fine, but he'll most likely always be a little smaller and weaker than other children. You'll just have to be patient with him."

Horatio nodded as he looked down at his children. He'd never thought he'd be in this position, but here he was. Granted they weren't his by blood, but he still felt fiercely protective of the tiny, helpless bundles in front of him. He placed a hand on the side of Rosalyn's humidicrib, and watched as her tiny fists flailed around. It felt as if his heart was about to burst.

As far as he was concerned, there was no better feeling on earth.

-DT-

The next three weeks flew past. Rosalyn was kept back a little longer than expected, but William was ready for release early. Horatio was just finishing off the paperwork involved in getting paternity leave, and then he could go and collect the twins from the hospital.

To his great surprise, Rick Stettler from over in IAB had actually been a big help in getting leave so quickly. He had also helped speed up the process of formally adopting the twins. Rick apparently had several connections within the judicial system, and while he rarely used them for his own benefit, this time he was willing to have a word to the presiding judge.

With a smile firmly in place, Horatio signed his name one final time and passed the papers over to Rick, who signed in the 'witness' space and quickly filled in his own details. The two men smiled at each other, Rick not as strongly as Horatio, but it was a start.

"Congratulations, Horatio," he said as he shook the lieutenant's hand. "You are now, officially, a father."

"Thank you, Rick," Horatio nodded. "Now I'd better go pick them up, I suppose."

As he left, Rick placed the papers carefully inside his briefcase, making sure they were in the right order. On his way home, he'd drop them off at the court house.

After all, if Horatio was busy running around after his kids and not at work, he wouldn't be as likely to by pining over Yelina. And with Horatio out of the way for a couple of months, maybe Yelina would finally give Rick a chance.

-DT-

Alexx was waiting at the hospital when Horatio arrived. She had given the twins a final check personally before telling Horatio that they were ready to leave. Despite their premature birth and their mother's health problems, there seemed to have been no lasting damage inflicted on the infants.

Horatio had been spending as much of his spare time as possible at the hospital, and as a result all the nurses knew him now. He waved a greeting to Sandra, the girl at the station, before heading straight in to Alexx and his children.

Amelia, one of the nurses he regularly spoke to about the twins' health, was already handing William to Alexx. Horatio had held his new son for the first time that morning, yet he still felt a small surge of protectiveness and fear at the sight of someone else holding him. He bit down his reaction, immediately feeling ashamed. This was Alexx holding the boy, not some random stranger. The doctor, however, seemed to notice, and smiled anyway.

"You know, when Janie was born, my husband couldn't let her out of his sight for days. And whenever anyone tried to hold her, or even touch her, he'd snarl like a dog whose puppies were in danger. It passed though, and pretty soon he was more than willing to foist her off onto others." Horatio nodded, feeling comforted. Apparently, this fear was part of being a father.

He turned back to Amelia, who held out Rosalyn for him. Horatio cradled his daughter gently against his chest. It felt so right like this, watching her sleep. He did his best not to jar her as he signed the release papers, picked up their gear and led Alexx down to his car.

A couple of days ago, Eric had helped him to pick out and install two baby capsules in the back seats. They had the highest possible safety rating, and Eric had quipped that they could probably withstand getting rolled over by a tank. Horatio secretly wondered if that was going to be enough protection.

It took him a couple of minutes to work out how to properly secure the tiny bundle inside – while Alexx managed in seconds. She smiled at him again, telling him that he'd get used to it.

The drive home went slowly. Horatio kept under the speed limits and constantly double-checked his moves. In spite of Eric's teasing about the baby capsules, Horatio felt that they looked far too flimsy compared to the cars around him. Maybe he should start driving the company hummer everywhere… or just not let the infants out of the house. At least until they were eighteen.

He chuckled at this line of thought. He certainly was becoming the protective father. His thoughts darkened and the smile left his face. At least protective was better than abusive. His greatest fear now was that he would follow the actions of his father – and the twins' biological father. He knew that he would prefer to cut off his own hands, rather than risk hurting the infants sleeping in the back seat, but part of him was still afraid.

As he pulled into his driveway, he resolved that both Alexx and the rest of the team would have an open invitation to his house from now on. Between the four of them, they would be sure to notice if something was wrong – and he could count on them to call him on it.

Turning off the engine, Horatio faced his first dilemma: how to get both babies into the house. Sighing, he decided that one at a time was the best approach. He'd just have to do it quickly, so as not to leave either child alone for long.

He quickly got out and collected Rosalyn from her capsule. She had woken briefly and was now in that pleasant half-asleep state. Gently, Horatio lifted her and moved quickly to the front door. Once inside, he deposited her on a soft arm-chair in the front room before going back to fetch William. He locked the car once his son was safely in his arms and went back inside, this time going straight to the nursery and putting William inside Speed's insect-covered crib. He jogged back down the hall and retrieved Rosalyn, and deposited her in Eric's aquatic crib.

Both babies had gone straight back to sleep, not seeming fazed at all by the change in scenery. Then again, he remembered Alexx saying that newborns were unable to focus or identify specific sounds for several months. So maybe it wasn't so strange that they still slept peacefully.

Potential crisis averted, Horatio stepped back and stood, hands on his hips, just watching them sleep. Both had a soft, fuzzy covering of dark red hair, and their eyes were dark brown, just like their mother. Soothed by their peaceful breathing, Horatio re-affirmed his pledge.

"I promise that they'll have a better life than you, Holly. I promise it."


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This fic was written a few years ago, before I'd seen beyond Series Four. So there are inconsistencies, and things that probably don't make sense when compared to what was revealed as the real backstory of characters. I call artistic licence. Deal with it.

Horatio groaned and rolled out of bed. Glancing at the clock by his bedside, he saw that it was two thirty in the morning. He could hear one of the twins crying through the baby monitor, and padded quietly to their room.

He'd heard of babies who slept through the night. Such mythical creatures might have existed somewhere, but not in his house. William tended to wake up once or twice during the night, but need attention all day. Rosalyn was just the opposite – she often slept right through the day, but would wake several times at night.

Sighing, Horatio lifted his daughter from her crib. She stopped crying, apparently just needing his comforting presence.

"You're killing me here, Sweetheart," he whispered to the little bundle held to his chest. She just sighed and closed her eyes again. Smiling, Horatio sat in the armchair he'd moved into the nursery. He pulled the blanket off the back and wrapped it around both of them. Maybe he could get another few hours of sleep…

-DT-

He was woken again to find William starting to cry. A glance at the window revealed that the sun was rising, signalling William's turn for attention. Replacing Rosalyn in her crib, Horatio stretched, trying to get the crick out of his neck before retrieving the other infant. The boy was probably hungry.

As the bottle warmed, Horatio rubbed his eyes and yawned. He was grateful that he had another six weeks before he had to go back to work – longer if he decided to use some of his stored up vacation time. At the moment, if he tried working a case, he'd probably fall asleep in the middle of the lab. Not exactly the best example to set for his team.

Thinking of which, Calleigh was meant to be coming over for lunch. Horatio had mistakenly mentioned to Speed that he wasn't eating much lately, and Alexx had wheedled the information out of the younger man in one of her concerned interrogations. Actually, Horatio had the sneaking suspicion that she had been grilling Speed about his personal life, and Speed had thrown Horatio's eating habits out as a diversion. He could be very sneaky like that. As a result, Calleigh and Alexx had taken it upon themselves to stop by his house every couple of days to make sure he ate a decent meal. It also gave him a chance to get out of the house and do the grocery shopping, or go for a walk and get some sun, though he kept his outings as short as possible.

It wasn't that he didn't trust his friends with his children, he just… didn't trust anyone with his children.

The microwave beeped at him, pulling Horatio from his thoughts. He managed to screw the top onto the bottle and sat down at the kitchen table to feed William.

-DT-

After a very pleasant lunch, filled with the usual mild flirting, innuendos and double entendres, Horatio was clearing up. Calleigh had gone to entertain Rosalyn, who had woken up from her sleep. Horatio was starting to recognise which cries belonged to which baby, not always an easy task. He felt quite proud of himself for that, and for the ability to tell them apart physically. Most people still had to ask him which twin was which.

He dried his hands on a tea towel, then went in search of his girls. Wait, my girls? Horatio chuckled. I don't think Calleigh would approve of me calling her my girl. He heard Calleigh's drawl coming from the nursery, and went to investigate.

"Who's a beautiful girl?" Calleigh cooed at Rosalyn. The infant was lying on her back on the floor of the nursery, in front of where Calleigh sat cross-legged. They were apparently playing peek-a-boo, or some such game.

Horatio watched silently from the door, unsure if Calleigh was even aware of his presence. She was so wrapped up in the baby in front of her, she probably wouldn't notice a gun going off next to her.

At that, Horatio shook his head. Bad example – this was Calleigh, after all. The Bullet Girl would notice a gunshot instantly, and could probably tell what the gun was with very little thought. Okay, she probably wouldn't notice if I-

"I know you're there, Horatio," he could hear the smile in her voice.

"How? You were concentrating on her," Horatio wondered aloud as he entered the room and sank to the ground next to Calleigh. He loved to watch her with the babies – she was so natural with them, a passerby would probably think they were hers. If he ever let them out of the house, of course.

Calleigh shrugged, before throwing him one of her trademark smiles, the ones that always left him breathless.

"A woman always knows when she's being watched."

Horatio fought to keep the panic off his face at that. In truth, he was always watching the southern belle, far more often than was appropriate for co-workers. And if she'd noticed… but she seemed to be content keeping things how they were, for she turned back to Rosalyn and started playing with her tiny hands.

After a moment, Horatio relaxed again, lulled by the happy noises his daughter was making. He reached out his hand to tickle her stomach, gently brushing against Calleigh's arm in the process. When he turned back to her, there was a faint blush on his subordinate's cheeks. He also noticed that her face was mere inches away. It would be the easiest thing in the world to just lean forward a little more…

-DT-

Horatio was in the kitchen, clearing up from lunch when Calleigh heard one of the babies crying. She quickly went into the nursery, and picked up the fretful Rosalyn, who settled a little but kept whimpering. After a sniff, Calleigh figured out the problem.

"Full diaper. You're a stinky baby, aren't you?" She drawled as she set about remedying the matter. Soon Rosalyn was clean, dry and happy, though she didn't seem sleepy any more. "You finally figured out that daytime is playtime, huh?"

Calleigh gracefully sank to the floor and lay Rosalyn in front of her. She was really too young for peek-a-boo, but she seemed to like the cheerful tone of voice Calleigh used.

After a few minutes, Calleigh felt the warm sensation in the pit of her stomach that always meant Horatio was somewhere near, watching her. She smiled as she complimented Rosalyn, wondering if Horatio was going to come in or just keep standing there.

"Who's a beautiful girl?" She gently stroked the baby's hair before going back to their game. A few more minutes passed, and Calleigh figured she should probably say something to her boss.

"I know you're there, Horatio," she smiled as she informed him. Behind her, Horatio cleared his throat, and she could picture the shifty expression he often wore if caught staring at something – or someone – he shouldn't.

"How? You were concentrating on her," he sounded a little bewildered as he sat next to her. At the close proximity, Calleigh felt her heart speed up. To cover her own nervousness, she threw him a smile that she knew could knock any man off-balance as she shrugged.

"A woman always knows when she's being watched." Not entirely true, but she had learned to recognise when Horatio was watching her. Something that happened a lot more often than IAB guidelines said it should.

Not that Calleigh minded – quite the opposite, actually. It always gave her a thrill to think that Horatio was watching her, looking out for her – and maybe even desiring her.

They had been flirting with each other for years. Ever since they'd met, in fact, though it had never gone any further than words. Calleigh decided, as Horatio's arm brushed her own, that she was tired of playing with him.

She was ready for the real thing. When Horatio turned his face to her, she decided to take the final chance and leaned forward.

-DT-

He kiss took Horatio completely by surprise. Not that he was complaining at all, it was something he'd wanted to do for a long time. The problem had always been that he was never entirely sure if his feelings were reciprocated – after all, if she hadn't felt the same way, it would have ruined their excellent working relationship, not to mention the friendship. And Calleigh had a tendency to flirt with anyone if it would help her get what she wanted.

This, however, was way past flirting.

He then heard William start to fret, and pulled away slightly, earning a soft whimper from Calleigh. Somehow his hands had found their way into her hair, and her arms were wrapped firmly around his neck. Horatio smiled, then placed a gentle kiss on the tip of her nose.

"To be continued…" he promised.

-DT-

-DT-

 _Well that's a sure mood killer,_ Calleigh thought wryly. Horatio was changing William's diaper, his back to her as she lifted the still-playful Rosalyn and rose from the floor. It seemed that for once, both twins were going to be awake for a while.

Horatio, for his part, was frantically trying to put together just how things were going to work now. Everything had changed with just one kiss. There was going to be trouble at the lab if people found out he was in love with his ballistics expert. Not that Speed, Eric or Alexx would have a problem – they had all worked together long enough to know that Horatio didn't play favourites. IAB, on the other hand, would probably have a field day. Then there was the matter of timing. Horatio wasn't sure that he could take on a new relationship as well as raising his children. Calleigh certainly knew how to turn his world upside-down.

He turned to find the object of his thoughts standing right behind him, Rosalyn in her arms. Both girls smiled up at him, before Calleigh leaned up and captured him with another kiss.

 _Screw it,_ Horatio decided. _I'm not giving this up. IAB will just have to deal with it._

-DT-

"You did WHAT?" Eric yelped. Speed smirked at his friend before turning back to Calleigh, who was blushing bright red.

"I kissed Horatio. It's not that big of a deal," she shifted uncomfortably. Eric continued to gape at her, while Speed rolled his eyes.

"Oh, yes it is," the New Yorker said smugly. "There's been electricity between the two of you for years. It's about time one of you did something about it, and I always knew you were the go-getting type."

"Stop it," Calleigh protested, hitting him on the shoulder.

"Ouch," he mock-whined at her, before playfully shoving her back. Eric had recovered from the shock and laughed at their antics. Unknown to all of them, Horatio had entered the lab and was leaning against the wall, holding the twins' carriers in each hand and a smile firmly on his face. It wasn't often he got the chance to observe his team at play, so he relished the opportunity. And it seemed he'd been right – the boys didn't have a problem with him and Calleigh having a relationship.

At that moment, Rosalyn decided to make their presence known by letting out a squeal. The three CSIs whipped around, with various degrees of guilt on their faces. Horatio just raised an eyebrow at his daughter.

"You really don't understand the meaning of stealth, do you?"

"Be fair, H," Speed commented. "Anyone would look unstealthy next to you." Eric and Calleigh nodded, earning a smile from their boss.

"If you say so," he murmured and ducked his head, looking back at the twins, who were apparently attempting to focus on him as well.

"What do we have here?" Horatio heard Alexx's voice behind him and turned to face her. "Horatio, what are you doing here? You're not meant to be back yet."

"I know. But I promised Calleigh I'd take her to lunch."

"Excellent," Alexx smiled. "I'll take these for you," she reached out for the babies. Almost imperceptibly, Horatio tightened his grip for a moment, before relaxing and passing them over. Alexx nodded at him in approval, though Eric looked a little concerned.

"Hang on Alexx, you've got bodies to work on. You can't do that with a baby in each hand."

"I dunno," Calleigh piped up, "I'd be willing to wager she could hold the scalpel in her mouth."

"Certainly gives a new meaning to having a sharp tongue," Speed grinned, earning another smack from Calleigh. "Why do you keep doing that? If it's an S and M thing, go hit H. He's your boyfriend, it's what he's there for now."

"Speed!" There were varying levels of amusement, embarrassment and shock from the others at his comment. Calleigh and Horatio both had faint blushes, which just made Speed's smirk grow larger.

"What? The twins aren't old enough to understand innuendo yet."

"When they reach puberty," Horatio murmured, "I'm putting a gag on you."

"See Calleigh?" Speed announced triumphantly. "He's into kink too! You really are the perfect couple."

-DT-

"This is nice," Calleigh looked around appreciatively. Horatio had taken her to an upscale restaurant not far from the lab. He hadn't planned on anything this fancy with the twins in tow, but given they were safely with Alexx, he could relax.

Or at least try to.

-DT-

Back at the lab, Alexx cursed under her breath as her pager went off. She was being called to a scene, and Horatio wouldn't be back for the twins for at least an hour. Longer if Calleigh was being charming.

Sighing in frustration, she picked up the twins and made her way up to Trace. There wasn't a lot of choice here.

Eric and Speed were leaning against the table, discussing sand or something similar. They were going to be in the lab a while, Alexx knew. She put on her best 'do something for me or regret it' smile and placed the babies on the table.

"Hey Alexx," Speed nodded. "Whatcha got for us?"

"Two little bundles," came the reply. The men looked at her, uncertain. "I need to go to a scene. I can't take them with me, you'll have to watch them."

"No way," Eric looked more than a little panicked. Speed didn't look too comfortable either. "Alexx, we don't know anything about taking care of babies."

"Oh puh-lease," Alexx rolled her eyes. "They're just gonna sleep. If they cry, give them a cuddle or a bottle. I'll be back as soon as I can, and if I'm delayed, Horatio'll be back in an hour." Or so, she added to herself.

"Alexx…" Speed tried to protest, but she was having none of it.

"Boys, this is not a debate. I'm going and leaving the babies here. End of story. I'll be back in a little while." With that, she turned and left.

Eric and Speed looked at each other, then at the twins, who were currently sleeping peacefully.

"Well," Eric tried to find the bright side, "at least while they're sleeping we can keep working."

"Yeah," Speed nodded. "Just as long as they don't stop breathing. H will kill us if anything happens to his kids, and he'll make damn sure our bodies are never found."

"Yeah, well, we can still keep an eye on them while we work. Come on."

Several minutes passed just fine. The babies remained fast asleep, and the men started to relax. After about fifteen minutes, they even started to enjoy themselves.

So, naturally, something had to go wrong.

With no warning whatsoever, Rosalyn let out a piercing wail, which woke William up as well. He followed his sister's lead and began to cry, causing both men to jump and look at each other, eyes wide with panic.

"What do we do, man?" Eric asked. Speed shrugged and looked at the bag Alexx had left them.

"Pick up Will, I think he's just crying 'cause Rosie woke him. I'll try feeding her, isn't that what Alexx said to do?"

"Yeah, okay," Eric nodded and went over to the babies. When he got near them, however, he wrinkled his nose in disgust. "Cancel the bottle, it's the other end that needs attention."

"No way," Speed groaned. Eric shrugged.

"Smell it for yourself. Uh… now what do we do?"

"Well, we've dealt with worse stuff at crime scenes. Changing a diaper shouldn't be too bad, right?"

"Right," Eric lifted Rosalyn and carried her carefully over to the table where Speed was looking for a fresh diaper.

"Okay, here we go," he pulled out some baby wipes and a new diaper from the bag. "Lay her on the table."

He managed to remove her sleeper and the soiled diaper, despite Rosalyn's thrashing. She didn't seem to want anyone other than her father changing her.

-DT-

At the restaurant, Horatio was attempting to get Calleigh to tell him what her tattoo was. She just kept laughing and evading. Eventually, she raised her hands in surrender and smiled at him.

"Okay, I'll give you three guesses as to what it is. You win, I show it to you. I win, you tell me something about yourself that no one else at the lab knows."

"Deal."

-DT-

Speed had managed to clean Rosalyn up. She had stopped crying, and Eric was rocking William in an attempt to settle him again. It was then that they ran into another problem.

"Uh, Delko? You got any idea how to re-attach these things?" He couldn't work out how to put the new diaper on her. Delko looked over his friend's shoulder, shaking his head.

"Not a clue, man. Maybe that-"

"Damn!" Speed swore. He'd ripped the diaper. Looking in the bag again, he groaned. "There's not another one in here…" The friends shared a look.

"Autopsy," they declared in unison.

-DT-

Down in Alexx's domain, the boys found bandages and medical tape. Speed had placed the clean diaper on Rosalyn, but they were unable to do it up due to the tears he had made in it. So, he started wrapping bandages around her, something made all the more difficult by the little girl's thrashing.

"I never was any good at wrapping presents," Speed muttered. "Especially wriggly ones."

"I just wish he'd stop crying," Eric nodded towards the boy in his arms. William was apparently cranky from being woken up, and determined to share his misery.

"Try rocking him and singing something," was Speed's suggestion.

"I don't know any nursery rhymes," Eric was starting to panic.

"Give him here," Speed reached out for William, leaving Rosalyn on the table. "You finish wrapping her."

Eric gladly handed over the crying bundle and took over the job of securing Rosalyn's diaper. Speed began pacing the room and quietly singing. Eric smirked when he recognised the song the other man had chosen – 'We Won't Be Fooled Again' by The Who. After a few verses, William seemed to have settled, and was going back to sleep.

Speed came to a stop at Eric's side, and the two men shared a look and a shrug. Their improvised diaper was as good as it was going to get. Eric was about to pick up the girl, when Alexx walked in ahead of her new corpse.

"There you two are. I was wondering…" she caught sight of Rosalyn and trailed off. "What in the world were you doing to that child?"

"Papier mache," Speed suggested. "We decided make a baby our own." Alexx shook her head.

"Horatio is going to kill you."

-DT-

"I can't believe you were a hippy!" Calleigh exclaimed as they entered the crime lab. "I never would have picked it."

"I can't believe I couldn't guess your tattoo," Horatio muttered in amazement. Calleigh smiled at him.

"Now, now, I've always made a habit of destroying people's preconceptions, you know that. Don't take it too hard. And anyway," she lowered her voice as some of the lab techs walked past, "I'm sure you'll be seeing it sooner or later."

"Hmmm…" Horatio hummed, smile firmly in place. He pushed open the door to autopsy, and froze. Alexx was holding Rosalyn, who seemed to be covered in bandages. He raced over, only to have Alexx roll her eyes at him.

"The two stooges over here made an attempt at changing her diaper, and ended up wrapping her in twenty feet of bandages."

Horatio looked from his daughter to his male subordinates, both of whom looked pretty sheepish. Without saying a word, he took Rosalyn from Alexx and placed her back in her carrier. He picked up William as well, and turned to leave. Before doing so, he called out over his shoulder.

"Hey, Speed, Eric? You're never babysitting for me again."

Once Horatio was safely out of earshot, the men turned to each other and slapped a high five.

"Mission accomplished," Speed announced triumphantly. This earned him yet another smack from Calleigh. "Owwww…"

-DT-

"What have you got, Tim?" Calleigh called out as she and Eric walked into the crime scene.

"Probably more than he can handle," Eric quipped. "Why don't you let a car man deal with a car incident?" The mock-feud between the men about motorbike versus car was a standing joke around the lab.

"Because most vehicular incidents are about trace," came the irritated response.

Several feet away, Horatio watched as his team turned from bickering to sorting through the evidence. It never ceased to amaze him how easily they all made the transition from fooling around to being deadly serious. It was Horatio's first day back at work after paternity leave, and he was already missing the twins. Sighing, he got back to work. The sooner this was solved, the sooner he could go back to them.

-DT-

When Clavo Cruz spat on Horatio, it took everything Calleigh had to refrain from shooting him right there. One look from Horatio, though, was enough to steady her.

"Nice when they help," he murmured as Calleigh retrieved the sample for the new DNA technician. He could tell that she wasn't convinced though. "Hey, it's no big deal. If it helps to solve the case, what's a little indignity?"

"I've never seen you undignified," Calleigh rolled her eyes, earning a smile.

"Trust me, it has been known to happen. Especially where the twins are concerned." He winced internally at a few of the memories. Such as being so sleep-deprived that he opened the door of his house in mid-afternoon on a Saturday, wearing only his boxer shorts and holding William to his chest. The girl scouts had been very surprised.

"Well, you'll have to tell me more about that. Dinner when the case is over? My treat."

"Sounds good, Sweetheart."

-DT-

After the case was closed, Horatio stood over the cribs holding his children. He just couldn't comprehend how someone could allow their children to grow up to be killers. On the other hand, the older Cruz was General For Life of a country that used torture. Horatio wondered if Rosalyn or William would become corrupted. After all, he had some similarities with the General - he had killed many people in the line of duty. He avoided it as much as possible, of course, but it did happen, more often than he liked.

As he stood there, lost in his thoughts, Calleigh came up behind him and wrapped her arms around his middle. She had a pretty good idea of what was bothering him.

"Horatio, they'll be just fine. I know they will."

"How can you be sure?" He asked. Calleigh poked him in the ribs, making him turn to look at her directly.

"Because they've got you watching out for them, day and night for the rest of their lives. And even when you're not around, they've still got me and Alexx. Even Tim and Eric will be watching over them, even if you don't trust them to take care of them directly. Willy and Rosie will grow up surrounded by love and the good kind of discipline. They'll be fine."

"What if that's not enough?" Horatio seemed reluctant to accept Calleigh's reassurances. She shrugged at him.

"It will be. Trust me. Now," she gave him a saucy wink, "I do believe I promised to show you my tattoo."

"That you did," Horatio smiled.

-DT-

"That's it," Eric nodded sagely. "Distract him with sex. Works every time."

"And you would know this how?" Speed queried, raising an eyebrow. Eric looked at him for a moment, puzzled, before he realised what he had implied. Calleigh and Speed both cracked up laughing at the expression on his face as he tried to back-pedal.

"No! No! I didn't mean that I've had sex with H! No! I meant that I've had women use it to distract me! Guys!" But his friends were laughing too hard to cut him any slack, and he ended up just sighing and picking up his gear, heading to the locker room. Once they'd sobered up, Calleigh turned to Speed as she wiped her eyes.

"Oh dear. Poor Eric. It did work though, it made him much more relaxed. And he loved the tat, especially once he realised where it is."

"I'll bet he did," Speed smirked. "All these years and he's been just a shirt's width from touching it. What'd he think of the design?"

"He said it was very me. Of course, I didn't tell him that it was you who drew it up in the first place."

"Good. That's my special reminder on why I should never have a bet against you."

_Three years earlier_

_"C'mon, Calleigh, it's gotta be the wife. She's got motive and means, plus the threads we found match her dress. What more could you want?"_

_"I don't know, but I still think it's the mistress. Maybe she got tired of playing second fiddle, maybe she just wanted to get rid of him. I think she's guilty."_

_"Fine, you chase the mistress. But if you're wrong, you're coming to the motor show with me."_

_"And if I'm right, you're drawing my tattoo."_

_"Deal."_

It had been the mistress, and Calleigh had gleefully extracted her prize from her friend. She'd ended up going with him to the motor show anyway, because she did actually like big trucks flying through the air, and in return Speed had done a very good job on the tattoo.

At first glance, it looked like a pink butterfly. But on closer inspection, it turned out to be a small dragon with beautiful butterfly wings, and a small burst of red fire coming from its mouth. The meaning behind it was obvious: Appearances can be deceiving.

And the little dragon was located on the small of her back, exactly where Horatio always placed his hand if he was guiding or escorting her. He'd wondered why she rarely let anyone else touch her back. Now he knew, and he touched it every chance he got.

-DT-

Horatio sat, watching his children with a smile on his face. Both were lying on their stomachs a few feet away from him, attempting to crawl to him. Rosalyn was having a lot more success than William, but Horatio wasn't worried. After all, they were only six months old. There was plenty of time left. For now, he was enjoying not having to worry about where they were or what they were getting into.

Behind him, Calleigh let herself in the front door. She'd just dropped Eric home after Consuela Valdez' memorial service. He'd been a little touchy, and with good reason, she figured. Seeing Horatio with his children made her pause, and she leaned against the doorframe. She always had enjoyed watching her lover interact with children, and now she could watch it whenever she wanted.

Calleigh and Horatio had been officially in a relationship for almost three months now, and were still going strong. Horatio always seemed delighted whenever she dropped by unexpectedly, and she always loved it when she found the small presents he randomly left in her locker. He had quickly learnt not to let his feelings get in the way of Calleigh doing her job, which she was thankful for. And as much as he loved being with her, he had taken to assigning her to work with Eric or Speed more often than not.

All in all, things were going well. They had managed to avoid trouble with IAB so far, partly thanks to a favourable review Stettler had passed on concerning their work together, and Horatio was getting better at leaving the twins with other people for extended periods of time. He still didn't like it, of course, but he was no longer thinking about them every minute of the day.

Calleigh smiled as Rosie made it to her dad and was picked up for a cuddle as a reward. Willy was still a few feet away and starting to fret, so Calleigh stepped forward.

"Hey there, baby boy," she soothed him as she picked him up. "It's all right. Your sister's just a show-off. You've got plenty of time to catch up."

"Hmmm," Horatio hummed his agreement. Rosie was babbling up at him, and Willy was doing the same to Calleigh. Then the infant boy said something that made both adults freeze.

"Mama."

Calleigh closed her eyes. For as long as she could remember, she had longed for the day she'd hear that from a child. She had believed it would never happen, however, and this simple word had knocked her world sideways. Opening her eyes again, she turned to Horatio, who was staring at her. She could see disbelief on his face, but also… hope?

"Is that okay, Horatio?" Calleigh asked, her voice surprisingly steady. "Is it okay for me to be Mama?"

Horatio stood and moved toward her, hardly daring to breathe. He was terrified of saying the wrong thing now, and ruining his chance at a family, but Calleigh needed an answer.

"Calleigh… that's all I could ever want. Having you here as their mother."

The two stood for several minutes, looking at each other. For a moment, Horatio was scared that she was going to bolt, but then Calleigh broke into a smile.

"Well then… I guess I should probably move in, if I'm going to be Mama."

"Please," Horatio whispered, and smiled in return.

-DT-

Hagen and Calleigh were arguing. Horatio hadn't really been paying much attention, but he could see it now – the two of them had been on the verge of starting something. And then he'd swooped in, stealing Calleigh away, and Horatio wasn't sure that Hagen was getting over it any time soon. He hung back, allowing Calleigh room to deal with it. She didn't like it when he was too protective.

But when Calleigh started to sound panicked, he decided to step in and clear his throat. Hagen whipped around to look at him, while Calleigh lowered her eyes to the floor. She hadn't wanted him to witness this.

"Is this urgent, Detective?" Horatio deliberately used Hagen's title, reminding him that they were at work. Also that he out-ranked the detective. Hagen looked down, then back up at Horatio.

"It can wait."

As he moved to leave, Horatio deliberately stepped into his path. The unspoken message was clear – do not mess with Calleigh Duquesne. She's mine. After a moment, Hagen left with his head bowed, and Calleigh had to fight the urge to laugh. Sure, Hagen had a few inches on Horatio, but the red-head commanded respect simply by existing. He didn't need height or bulk to intimidate people, and in fact Calleigh preferred his sleekness. It protected her rather than overpowering her when they were together, a distinction that Hagen didn't seem to understand.

"You okay?" Horatio's voice shook her out of her thoughts. She could hear the concern in his voice, and flashed him a smile.

"You know it." Sure, things were rough with Hagen right now, but it would pass in time. And she had other things to think about.

"Okay. Angelo's gun?" Such as that. Calleigh closed her eyes, knowing that Horatio was going to be disappointed in her. She decided that honesty was the best policy, and admitted that she hadn't been concentrating solely on the case.

"I've gotten a little side-tracked."

"All right," Horatio reassured her, and she believed him. He wasn't upset at her for looking at both cases. "What have you got?"

"Basically, the striations don't match, which means this wasn't the gun that shot our two victims, and the club owner Angelo was telling us the truth." She shrugged at the last bit. Someone telling the whole truth was rare in their profession.

"So our only confirmed liar," Horatio summarised, "Is Ricky Murdoch." Calleigh nodded. "All right."

Calleigh turned back to her work, when she felt her lover's hand rest on her tattoo and his lips gently kiss her temple, and her eyes fluttered closed.

"Good work, Sweetheart."

Calleigh was smiling for a long time after that.

-DT-

Horatio was coming out of the trace lab after talking with Speed, when he saw Calleigh storming down the hall. The look on her normally cheerful face frightened him a little – she looked as though she was either going to burst into tears or shoot someone, and was just waiting for one last little push to decide which one it was going to be.

Eric had mentioned to him how the case seemed to be worsening the rift between Calleigh and Hagen, and that she had gone to confront him. From the looks of things, it hadn't gone well.

"Calleigh?" Horatio called out, causing her to stop and turn to him. He didn't bother asking if she was okay when she clearly wasn't. "Do you want to talk about it?"

She looked at him oddly for a moment, then burst out laughing. It only lasted a moment, but it reassured them both.

"How do you know how to read me so well, Horatio?" Not giving him time to respond, she continued. "I can't talk right now. But cook me that pasta thing you make tonight and I'll spill. Promise."

The pasta thing. It had to have been bad then. Horatio had learned that for Calleigh, pasta was a comfort food, something she craved when she'd had a particularly bad day. He'd best go shopping on the way home.

-DT-

Later that day, Calleigh walked into the gun lab to find Horatio already there, looking at comparisons. He stood and turned as she entered, looking at her with a tenderness he usually reserved for his children.

"How concerned should I be about you?" He asked gently. Calleigh figured that Eric had probably filled him in on what had been going on. Honestly, the lab was worse than high school with the amount of gossip that went on. You didn't need to read the official reports to find out what everyone was doing with a case, you just had to stand by the reception desk for half an hour.

Granted, she, Eric and Speed only ever talked to each other, or Alexx and Horatio, and they always verified what they were saying. The rest of the lab, however…

"I'm fine." Even she had to admit that her voice sounded flat.

"You sure?"

"Yeah." She smiled back at him. She wasn't really, but if she started talking now she was liable to break down, and this was neither the time nor the place.

-DT-

"He was just such an ass!" Calleigh exploded as soon as she walked into the kitchen. Horatio carefully placed the knife he was holding to one side, then turned and leaned against the counter, arms folded across his chest. Apparently she had chosen anger instead of tears. This was good – he could deal with an angry Calleigh, but wasn't so sure about a tearful one.

"I mean, he's more concerned about his arrest jacket than with the truth! What kind of detective just relies on a statement and disregards the evidence! I know that this time the evidence did corroborate the original confession, but what if it hadn't? He asked Eric to risk his job and overlook what could have been crucial evidence! And then to insult my father!"

Horatio narrowed his eyes. He hadn't been aware of that. Sure, he didn't approve of Kenwall Duquesne's method of coping with problems, but he knew better than to use it against Calleigh in an argument. After all, come Hell or high water, the man was her father, her family, and she loved him more than anything. Horatio could well understand the sentiment.

Whale Calleigh continued to rant and rave about Hagen, Horatio kept quiet and thought dark thoughts about the detective. After several minutes, she seemed to be a lot calmer, and finished with a sigh.

Horatio wordlessly opened his arms, and Calleigh smiled as she crossed the kitchen for a hug. They stood holding each other for a while, before Horatio kissed the top of her head.

"All better now?" He whispered, and felt Calleigh nod against his chest.

"Yeah. And I promise not to bring him home again. I just needed to get that out."

"I know. And I don't mind. I'm just glad you can talk to me."

Calleigh nodded, though she wasn't sure that her ranting really qualified as talking to him. Still, she was comfortable enough to let her guard down with him, and that counted for something.

"Now, when are you going to move in?" He asked matter-of-factly.

"Well," Calleigh smiled up at him, "my lease does expire in about three weeks…"

"Good. Eric has next weekend off, as do you. I'm sure you can charm him into helping you carry boxes."

"Oh, I'm sure I can too."

"Excellent. Now let's finish cooking dinner, I'm starved."

-DT-

Calleigh stepped out of her shower, humming to herself. She had to dance around several boxes on the way to her bedroom. Just a few more days and she'd be moved in with Horatio, permanently. She sat on her bed and towel-dried her hair while thinking about the impending move.

Everything was moving so quickly, that she was a little unnerved. She'd only actually lived with a boyfriend once before, and she'd been dating him for over a year before moving in. She and Horatio, on the other hand, had been together nearly four months. Hardly a long-term relationship yet. But they had known each other for much longer, and Horatio had said that he wanted her to be the mother of his children, and she believed him.

And that was something she really needed to talk to him about. If he wanted to have other children with her… they were going to run into a problem. She sighed as she leaned forward, placing her head in her hands. She desperately blinked back the tears that threatened to fall, knowing she had to leave for work soon. And she'd cried enough over this particular problem already.

The cell phone she'd left on her nightstand rang, startling her. Glancing at the caller ID, she smiled. Horatio. Somehow, he always knew when she needed him.

"Hey there, Handsome," she greeted him. But there was less cheer than usual.

"Calleigh," she immediately knew something was wrong. "There's a hurricane on the way. Mandatory evacuation. I want you to take the twins and go with Yelina to stay with a friend of mine until it's passed."

"And what about you?" Calleigh felt herself steeling for an argument. "What are you gonna do while the women and children are off hiding?" She was being unfair, she knew it, but right now her emotions were still too near the surface.

"I need to help with evacuation, but I can't do that unless I know that you and the kids are safe. Please, Calleigh?"

She paused. Lieutenant Caine didn't often say please. Horatio Caine said it far more often. For him to be begging her like this, it had to be as the man who loved her, not as her boss.

"Okay, Horatio. I'll be there soon."

"Thank you, Sweetheart. I'll call you as soon as it's safe to come back, I promise."

-DT-

Horatio kept his word, and soon Calleigh was back in Miami helping with damage control and rescue. That evening, she sat in Horatio's lounge room, Rosie cradled in her arms as she reflected on the three major detectives she came into contact with.

She and detective Tripp got along well, and she had enjoyed working today's case with him. Part of the enjoyment, she had to admit, was the fact that Frank had no doubts as to her abilities, and respected her as a CSI. The fact that she was a member of the 'weaker sex' didn't even seem to register with him.

She'd asked him about it once, a couple of years ago. He'd just given her an incredulous look, as if he couldn't believe she even had to ask him.

"Cal, I'm from Texas. I know what Southern women are capable of. Plus, I'm married, and happen to believe in monogamy."

They'd gotten along great ever since.

Hagen, on the other hand, she was still having some trouble with. There was a great deal of tension between them, and Calleigh acknowledged that she was partly to blame. She had been giving John some definite 'go ahead' signals, and they'd gone out for drinks a couple of times, only for her to turn around and fall into a steady relationship with Horatio with no warning. Well, some warning, if Speed and Eric were to be believed. But he had every right to be bitter, she reasoned, just as long as it didn't interfere with their work. That was something she was not going to put up with.

And then there was Yelina. It was common knowledge that Yelina and Horatio had been attracted to each other for years, but neither had made a move to break the status quo, and now Calleigh was unsure how to act around the other woman.

Calleigh sighed and held Rosie tighter. She really did want this odd family to work, but she couldn't shake the feeling that maybe, Horatio had decided to settle for second best, that maybe Horatio had decided that if he couldn't have Yelina, he'd make do with Calleigh. If Horatio did still have feelings for his sister-in-law, then Calleigh knew this wasn't going to work out.

-DT-

"So how are thinks going with you and Calleigh?" Yelina asked Horatio as he came in from removing the boards from her windows. She was grateful as always for his help when it came to things like that.

"Good," he nodded, accepting a drink from the beautiful Latina. "She's moving in this weekend. Eric's going to help her."

"I'm glad," Yelina smiled. "It's been too long since you had someone in our life. And those twins will need a mother. Calleigh's a good woman, I'm sure she'll make a wonderful mother."

"Hmm…" Horatio started into his glass.

"Horatio? What's wrong?"

"I think… I think she's a little intimidated by you."

"Oh? Oh. Oh…" Yelina nodded in understanding. "The rumours around the lab, yes?" A nod from her companion. "Horatio, you need to talk to her about it, as soon as you can. Of course she feels threatened, after all, we are very close. But it's a closeness of necessity – I needed your help to raise Ray junior, and he's the only family you had left for a long time. Sure, maybe once we could have been together, but we chose a different path. You have to make sure she understands that."

"I know. It's just a little hard to talk about. She tries not to show it when she's feeling insecure, which makes it harder for me to reassure her."

"I know. Believe me, Horatio, I know. I've had men scared off by how close we are, too."

"Hmm," Horatio raised his eyes to hers, a devilish grin on his face. "And I do believe you have used our closeness to scare men away on purpose, haven't you?"

"Whatever works," Yelina shrugged. The two shared a smile, then she took Horatio's glass away from him without letting him finish it.

"Staying here all night isn't going to comfort Calleigh in the slightest. Go home to your girlfriend and make her feel special."

"Yes ma'am," Horatio grabbed his keys and turned to leave.

"And don't call me ma'am!" Yelina called out as she heard the front door close, then laughed to herself. "Men!"

-DT-

Eric collapsed dramatically on the floor of the garage as a large, stuffed bear hit him in the stomach. Speed smirked down at his friend, while Calleigh rolled her eyes.

"Oh come on you two, grow up." She picked up her beloved teddy and cuddled him to her chest, shooting a glare at her friends. They both gave her their most innocent look, even though they knew she could see right through them.

The boys had been helping Calleigh to move her stuff into Horatio's place, when they had found her box of stuffed toys. So, naturally, they had begun a toy-fight, which only ended when Calleigh stepped in.

She turned and placed the bear back in the box, then pulled out a smaller stuffed dog and a rag doll. She smiled to herself.

"Now these will make perfect gifts." With that, she left the boys to continue lugging her boxes around and went into the house to see the twins. Both had been put down for their afternoon nap some time ago, and would be waking up any time now. As she opened the door, holding the toys in one hand, she could hear Willy starting to babble for her. Smiling brightly, she leaned over the crib and stroked his hair.

"Hey baby boy. Did you have a nice nap?"

"Mama!" He babbled back.

"That's right honey, I'm your mama. And Mama has a present for you, see?" She handed him the stuffed dog, which Willy immediately started to chew on. Calleigh laughed as she turned to Rosie, who was playing with her feet. "And here's a dolly for you, angel. I hope you like her."

Upon hearing a snigger behind her, Calleigh turned to see Speed and Eric standing in the doorway, smiling at her. It was quite different to the usual smirk/leer combination, and as such it threw her off balance a little.

"What?" She demanded, feeling herself start to blush.

"Nothing, nothing," Eric murmured and turned away.

"It's just that you're showing affection for something that doesn't have a trigger," Speed said. "We've never seen that before."

"Oh… you… gah!" Calleigh threw her hands in the air in frustration as the boys beat a hasty retreat. She did care a great deal for her friends and co-workers, it was just… sometimes, she really wanted to shoot one of them. Or perhaps both.

-DT-

Calleigh hummed to herself as she locked up the gun closet. She'd just finished doing a stock-take, which always left her in a good mood. Getting to inspect and test-fire every gun in the locker to ensure that they were all in good working order… she might as well be in Heaven.

She had just sat down at her desk to complete the paperwork (it was never ending, she swore) when a knock at the door startled her. Very few people in the lab actually knocked, most preferring to just barge on in, which was something that she hated. She looked up, the smile on her face freezing in place as she recognised the person standing at the door. Yelina.

"May I come in?" The beautiful detective asked. She had noticed Calleigh's not-quite-sincere smile, and realised that Horatio hadn't spoken to her yet. Well, she'd expected that really, which was why she was here now.

"Sure you can. We got a new case?" Calleigh queried. She hadn't worked much with the other woman, and secretly she'd been hoping to keep it that way.

"No, I just wanted to talk to you. And it didn't seem right to do it at your house." She deliberately avoided calling Calleigh's new residence Horatio's house, trying to put the blonde woman at ease. That was another reason she'd chosen the gun lab for their discussion – it was Calleigh's territory, and she should feel more secure here.

"Oh," Calleigh seemed surprised. "Well, okay. What did you want to talk about?" She pushed the papers on her desk to one side, all too happy to leave them until later.

"I just wanted to welcome you to the family, really. It's been far too long since Horatio had someone special in his life, and you're good for him. I don't think I've seen him smile so much in years."

Calleigh seemed stunned.

"I thought… I mean, you…"

"You thought that there was something between us?" Yelina raised a delicate eyebrow. At Calleigh's hesitant nod, she smiled and sat down next to her, back to the table so they could easily look into each other's faces. "I won't lie to you, we have been hugely attracted to each other in the past. But there's just too much history and baggage between us, and we're really far too close to be romantically involved. In the years since we met, attraction has turned into familial affection, and neither of us want that to change."

Calleigh still looked a little sceptical, so Yelina continued.

"To Horatio, I will always be his brother's wife, and the mother of his nephew. And I'm happy with that. You, on the other hand… he loves you. It's easy to see, and I would never dream of standing in the way of that."

Finally Calleigh smiled, a real smile, and Yelina sighed in relief. She had been scared that she wasn't going to get through to the other woman. She knew that her closeness to Horatio had affected the man's first marriage, and was glad that it seemed it wouldn't affect this relationship.

"Thank you, Yelina. I realise it's silly of me to get so worked up over this, but you've known him so long, and so much better than I ever will."

"I don't know about that," Yelina interjected. "Most of what I know about Horatio is simply from watching him, something I think you can do just as well as I. As for the rest… Raymond told me a lot of stories." An evil smile crossed her face. "And as a fellow Caine lover, I do believe I should share those stories with you."

"I do believe you're right," Calleigh laughed. Yelina wasn't so bad after all. Maybe they could even become friends. Calleigh had far too few friends, given her odd work schedule, and she realised she had been pushing people away since Janet Medrano's death. Maybe it was time to let someone in.

"You hungry?" Calleigh asked as her stomach reminded her that it was lunch time. "There's a great sandwich shop a couple blocks away I usually go to."

"Lead the way," Yelina said as she rose from her seat. "Just let me grab my purse."

"No need," Calleigh held up Horatio's wallet. "He left this in here this morning. I think he'd be happy to shout us both lunch, don't you?"

"Absolutely," Yelina nodded, and the two women left the crime lab in search of food.

-DT-

Horatio was tired. He hadn't seen much of Calleigh the last couple of days, even though she'd been working the case with him and Yelina. He guessed that might have had something to do with it, though the two women seemed to be getting along just fine.

He let himself in through the front door, and paused when he heard laughter coming from the kitchen. Maybe Calleigh was playing with the twins… no, that was Yelina laughing with her!

As quietly as he could, Horatio moved to where he could see into the kitchen. Now there was a sight he wasn't going to forget in a hurry.

Calleigh and Yelina were standing either side of the breakfast bar. Calleigh was leaning forward, head resting on her folded arms, shoulders shaking with laughter. Yelina had her head thrown back, eyes closed, also in the throes of laughter. Between them was a bottle of wine, and two half-filled glasses. They were obviously having a great time, just talking as two women.

Horatio smiled and softly padded down the hall to the nursery. Inside, Willy was fast asleep, clutching the dog Calleigh had given him. Over in the other crib, Rosie was playing with her doll. She saw her father and smiled.

"Dada!" Came the delighted squeal, and Horatio laughed as he picked up his daughter.

"Yeah, Dada's here. Now let's go see Mama."

-DT-

Horatio sat, watching Calleigh as she slept. They had been watching a movie together with Ray Junior, but she had been so exhausted that she barely managed half an hour before succumbing to Morpheus' sweet spell. Ray Jr. glanced over at them and smiled, but turned back to the movie before he could be caught staring.

Uncle Horatio was sitting with his legs up along the sofa. Calleigh was nestled between them, her back to his chest, face turned toward the TV even while her eyes were closed. Her hands were resting on top of Horatio's arms, which were wound around her waist. All in all, they both looked happy, and Ray Jr. was glad.

He liked Auntie Calleigh. She hadn't asked him to call her that, but he figured that since she was dating his uncle, she was basically his aunt. None of the adults minded – in fact, after the first time he'd called her that, his mother had given him an extra $5 in pocket money.

Horatio and Ray Jr. continued to watch the movie in silence. The end credits were just starting to roll when Calleigh stirred, opening her eyes slowly.

"Hey there, Sweetheart," Horatio whispered and kissed the top of her head.

"Mmmph. Hey back," was the sleep-filled response. She sat up properly and stretched, moments before all three heard Rosie start crying for attention. Shrugging, Calleigh got up and went to calm her down again.

"That's spooky," Ray Jr. said, eyes wide.

"What is?" Horatio tilted his head to one side, curious as to what the boy was talking about.

"The way she does that. She woke up just before Rosie did. It's like she's psychic!"

"She's not psychic," Horatio smiled. "She's just very tuned in to the babies and their patterns."

"Then how come she always knows when it's you on the phone?" Ray Jr. wasn't going to give up. "And she always notices things at crime scenes that other people miss, you've said so yourself. Auntie Calleigh's psychic!"

Horatio sighed as he shook his head, though he was still smiling at his nephew's train of thought. Children did come up with the oddest ideas sometimes.

-DT-

Calleigh was beautiful when she slept. Actually, she was always beautiful, but slumber made her particularly lovely. Horatio smiled as he lay next to her, his head propped up on his hand. Gently he brushed the golden strands of hair away from her face, bringing out a peaceful smile. This was paradise.

It was late, but Horatio couldn't sleep. Their last case had gotten to him. Poor Frank had felt so betrayed by his wife's accusations of infidelity that he had gotten himself completely drunk. Horatio had been there to keep him from doing anything stupid, but in the end he had just brought him back home to sleep it off. The large Texan was on the couch, snoring his head off.

Calleigh hadn't seemed to mind him bringing a drunken man home. She had placed a bottle of water and some aspirin on the coffee table next to him for when he woke up, and had then dragged Horatio to bed.

It was now too early in the morning to really be called late night any more, and still Horatio lay awake. His body screamed for rest, but his mind was far too worked up to allow him to sleep. He sighed, causing Calleigh to shift closer to him. Putting his arm around her, Horatio temporarily allowed himself to venture into the past, to the argument that had shattered his previous marriage.

*Fifteen Years Ago*

"Of course something's wrong, you asshole! You're my husband, but I see the sodding paperboy more often than I see you! If I want to know how you are, I have to ring your co-workers!"

"Angela, you know it's a busy time at work. But we're close to nailing this guy, and then-"

"And then there'll be another 'guy' that you just have to 'nail'!"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means that I don't believe you anymore! If you want to sleep around, fine, do it, just have the decency to admit it!"

"Angela, are you saying that… Angie, I've always been faithful to you, always!"

"Then why are you always giving 'victims' your card? 'Oh, call me, any time, if you need to talk, day or night…' Please. You trawl for your next lay while you're working!"

"I've never broken my wedding vows, Angela. Never. You're the only woman in my life, I swear it."

"Oh, stuff it, Horatio. I want a divorce."

*Now*

Calleigh shifted in her sleep again, and Horatio held her tighter. He had told the truth – he'd never even considered having an affair – but that hadn't been enough to save his marriage. Just the suspicion of infidelity seemed to be just as damaging as the reality of it.

After Angela had left, Horatio had gone through a few months of fairly heavy sleeping around. He figured that if he was going to be hung for the crime, he may as well commit it. It had been Frank who had pulled him out of a seedy bar one night, and flattened him with one punch. It had been just what Horatio needed to bring him to his senses.

Getting punched by Frank Tripp had been akin to being attacked by a teddy bear with a brick in its paw – completely unexpected, but brutally effective.

After Frank had taken him home and gotten him cleaned up, the two had talked long into the night. Horatio would always be thankful to the other man for convincing him that he was about to throw away his career over a suspicious-minded bitch. At the time he had objected to Frank's terminology, but time had allowed him to see that he was, in a broad sense, right about Angela.

And now it was his turn to be there for the breaking-down Texan asleep on the couch. His wife hadn't left him yet, it was true, but she had wounded him deeply. That lack of trust could very well have destroyed their marriage.

As he finally drifted off to sleep, a mere two hours before he would have to get up again, Horatio prayed that Calleigh would never doubt him like that, and he swore he'd never give her a reason to.

-DT-

The elevator doors dinged open, and revealed Horatio standing near the reception desk, hands on his hips. Calleigh laughed as she greeted him.

"I knew you'd be waiting."

"Hmm. Ray Jr. says you're psychic."

"Well, as long as he doesn't call me a psycho, it's all good." The two shared a laugh before turning back to the case at hand.

-DT-

That night, Calleigh held Horatio as he cried into her neck. They were curled up tightly in bed, and Calleigh wasn't letting go of him any time soon. She stroked his hair and hummed a lullaby to him, knowing that he needed her comfort more than anything else right now.

When Tolson had insulted Eugene, Calleigh knew that Horatio only barely kept from hitting him right there in the interrogation room. Hell, Calleigh was pretty close to walking in and slapping the cretin herself. Instead both waited until they reached the safety of home, of their bed, and then Horatio gave in to the sadness that had been brewing all day.

She and Horatio were really letting each other in now, and truth be told, it frightened Calleigh. The fact was, she was used to holding back from the men in her life, and now she was letting go. So was Horatio.

Gradually he calmed down, drawing deep, shaky breaths. Calleigh continued stroking his hair and the back of his head until he fell into a fitful slumber.

-DT-

Horatio sat watching Calleigh playing with Willy on the carpet. Rosie was standing, holding onto his knee and trying to reach the newspaper that her father was holding. It made fun, crinkly sounds, and she wanted to play with it!

"Not for you, Baby Doll," Horatio smiled and pulled the paper further out of her reach. Rosie pouted, then turned to Calleigh, who didn't seem to be paying attention to her.

"Mama," she called out. Calleigh raised her head and smiled.

"Hi there Angel. Don't you fret about Daddy, he's not being mean." She was about to turn back to Willy, when she saw Rosie take a tentative step towards her. "Horatio…"

Both adults froze as Rosie took another step, then Calleigh held out her arms to her daughter.

"That's it, Angel, come to Mama. Oh Lord, Horatio, she's walking…"

After a few more steps Rosie reached Calleigh and fell into her arms with a delighted "Mama!" Calleigh held her tight, a broad smile on her face. It was the proudest moment of her life so far, and from the look on Horatio's face, he felt the same way.

-DT-

"You turned down a photo shoot? For shame, Horatio, that could have been fun." Calleigh laughed as she bent down to put Willy in his crib. Horatio smiled at the view she presented, before she looked back over her shoulder and threw him a flirty wink. "Hey, put your daughter down before you give me that look."

Horatio chuckled and stepped over to Rosie's crib. The toddler was already asleep, her beloved Dolly clutched in her hands. He gently kissed the top of her head before putting her into the crib and tucking her in. As he turned around again, he saw Calleigh backing out of the room, giving him her best 'come hither' look. Apparently she was in a playful mood tonight, and that suited Horatio just fine.

-DT-

As the two lay in bed later, catching their breath, Horatio sat up and pulled a small box out of his bedside table. Calleigh smiled up at him lazily, mildly curious as to what he was up to, but content to just stay where she was.

"Sweetheart?" Horatio whispered.

"Yeah, Handsome?" She replied with a yawn. She really wanted to sleep, and her eyelids were drooping.

"Calleigh… will you marry me?"

"What?!" Calleigh's eyes flew open in shock and she sat up. "Horatio, what the Hell are you thinking?"

This was obviously not the reaction that Horatio had been hoping for. He sat in stunned silence as Calleigh leapt out of the bed.

"Why do we need to get married? And why so soon? Horatio, have you thought about this at all? I think you've finally gone round the bend!" It was then that Horatio realised that she was grabbing her clothes and dressing in a hurry.

"Calleigh, don't-"

"I mean, we're doing just fine, why superimpose marriage on this? Why spoil it?" Calleigh looked on the verge of tears. "Why couldn't you just leave things as they were?"

She finished pulling on her clothes and fled the room. Horatio stayed sitting on the bed, completely shocked. How in the world had he so badly misjudged things? He'd thought that she wanted something permanent with him. After all, she had readily accepted being mother to the twins, why wouldn't she want to marry him?

He heard the front door slam shut, and finally moved as he heard the twins start to cry. Apparently the explosion from Calleigh had woken them. He pulled on his boxer shorts and made his way to their room. As he turned on the light they calmed a little, and he moved to where he could look down at them both. Rosie was still cuddling Dolly, but Willy had thrown Woofer to the ground.

"Want Mama," he stated, and Horatio shook his head sadly.

"Willy, Mama's… Mama's gone."

"Want Mama!" The boy started to cry again, and Horatio picked him up, feeling his heart breaking.

"I know, Willy, I know. I want Mama too."

-DT-

Several suburbs away, Yelina groggily made her way to the door, gun drawn and ready. Someone was banging on her door in the middle of the night, and she wasn't stupid. But when she looked through the peep-hole, she immediately threw the door open.

"Calleigh! What happened?" Her friend looked awful. Her eyes were red from crying, and her clothes were in disarray. Yelina felt a terrible fear in the pit of her stomach.

"Oh, Yelina… I've messed everything up!" She burst into tears again, covering her face with her hands. Yelina quickly wrapped her in a hug and pulled her inside. This was definitely bad.

She wondered briefly if Calleigh had found out about young Madison. That would certainly be enough to rattle someone, but then why would Calleigh be feeling guilty? After all, the girl had been born long before she and Horatio had gotten together.

She led the still-sobbing blonde to the kitchen and sat her at the table. Quickly, she put the kettle on and started making some tea. After a few minutes, as Yelina sat the sweetened tea down in front of her, Calleigh sniffled one last time and wiped her eyes. She looked up at Yelina apologetically.

"I'm so sorry for barging in on you like this. It's late… I… I should be-"

"Don't you dare," Yelina said firmly. "You're not going anywhere like this. Now you don't have to tell me what happened if you don't want to, but I'm not sending you away."

Calleigh looked down at her tea, then slowly sipped it. She was still gathering her thoughts about what had happened. She'd blown up at Horatio when all he'd done was try to secure their future together.

"I just… I really messed things up with Horatio. And I… I don't know how to fix it."

"Have you tried talking to him?" Yelina asked gently. After all, this was Horatio they were talking about. He'd forgive anything as long as she was honest with him and talked to him.

"Well, I shouted at him. Does that count?"

Yelina raised an eyebrow. That was… unexpected. She waited, and Calleigh took a deep breath before continuing.

"We haven't really talked about the future, or what we want from it. And then tonight after we… we…" She broke off, blushing. Yelina smiled.

"Trust me Calleigh, it's nothing new. I do have a son, remember?"

"Well, we were in bed after, and he just… asked me to marry him. And I freaked at him, shouted a bit, and ran out. I don't know, it just took me by surprise, he's never mentioned wanting to get married before, and-"

"Wait, wait, wait," Yelina interrupted. "He proposed to you? Right after sex?" Calleigh nodded, and the detective shook her head. "That man… Calleigh, you can stay here as long as you need to, but I think you should talk to Horatio. It sounds like he just made a mistake."

"I know," Calleigh looked down. "And so did I."

-DT-

Calleigh sighed as she looked into the dumpster. This was rapidly shaping into the worst month of her life. First her fight with Horatio, and now… ants. She glanced at Eric, who was looking at her expectantly, and realised she'd have to fill him in.

"Okay, you know I'm not afraid of getting my hands dirty. Trash, leeches, I am the first one in there."

"Yeah, so? What's the problem?" Eric looked confused. Calleigh paused before coming clean.

"Ants."

"Ants?" Eric laughed.

"I have a problem with ants! They are small, they are sneaky, and they get places-"

"Okay, okay," he could tell that she was really getting worked up about this. "I'll get this one. You can get the next floater."

"I would love that." Both paused as they simultaneously realised just how creepy that sounded, and Eric smirked at her choice of words. Calleigh rolled her eyes and picked up her gear, ready to start processing the surrounding area.

-DT-

Yelina sat at her desk, chewing on the end of a pencil. She knew that Calleigh hadn't gone to talk to Horatio yet, as she was still sleeping in Yelina's spare room. The fight was not doing kind things to her appearance, and Horatio looked even worse.

According to him, the twins were having trouble adjusting to being without their Mama. They'd stopped making progress with their development, and had difficulty sleeping, which in turn gave Horatio many sleepless nights. It had been nearly three weeks with no improvement, and Yelina was afraid that if one of them didn't open up soon, they'd never get back together.

Life in the lab had continued pretty much as normal. Calleigh and Horatio had stopped flirting and touching each other, but were still completely professional. It seemed that there was no bitterness or animosity between them, just a great deal of confusion as neither seemed to know what to say outside of work.

Her pager went off then, startling the detective. Calleigh and Eric had made progress – time to bring in the three suspects for a height test.

-DT-

"Oh, that feels nice…" Calleigh closed her eyes and let the hot water from the shower wash over her. She couldn't take long – after all, she was in the locker room at work – but it was enough to reassure her that there were no ants left on her skin.

She opened her eyes again, thinking about the case. She'd never told any of her co-workers about her fear of ants before, and hoped Eric wouldn't use this against her. She'd never even told Horatio.

It suddenly clicked, and she smacked herself in the head. She'd never told him. Of course he'd thought she'd want to get married so quickly – after all, they'd rushed through all the other stages of their relationship. But she'd never told him about her biggest problem, she'd never told anyone, and now she'd left him hurt and confused.

She chuckled as she remembered Yelina's advice from when she'd first gone to the other woman. Talk to him, had been the instruction.

Well, she'd faced one fear today. Facing another shouldn't be too difficult.

-DT-

Horatio sighed as the doorbell rang. It was probably Frank checking up on him. He appreciated the man's concern, but really didn't want any company right now. The doorbell rang again, apparently he wasn't getting any peace tonight.

He opened the door, prepared to send Frank away, but was instead greeted by the sight of a nervous-looking Calleigh.

"Calleigh…" he whispered, half afraid that she was about to disappear again.

"Horatio," she bit her lip before continuing, "we should probably talk."

Horatio nodded and stepped aside, allowing her in. She went straight to the sofa, a place they'd shared many happy memories. He sat down near her, leaving some room so that she didn't feel crowded. After a moment, Horatio decided to break the silence.

"I've missed you, Calleigh." He glanced at her, and saw that she was staring at her hands.

"Know what I did today?" She started. Horatio blinked at the tangent she'd decided to take, but decided to play along.

"You arrested two waitresses for murder. I read the report."

"No, not that. I faced my phobia about ants. Climbed into a big ol' tank filled with 'em, just to get some evidence."

Horatio nodded. Eric had mentioned Calleigh's problem regarding the dumpster.

"Anyway, I was in the shower after, and I realised that I never told you about my phobia. And we never talked about a lot of things that we really should have."

"You're right," he murmured. "We should have talked about what we both want from the future."

"Exactly. Horatio, if we're going to try this again, there's something I need to know."

"What is it?" Horatio's heart was soaring. He hadn't messed things up beyond redemption, he still had a chance with her.

"Do you want more children? With me?"

Something in her voice made him pause. This was evidently a sore point for her, and he'd have to tread carefully.

"Calleigh, I… I would love to have more children, I won't deny it. But we already have the twins, and if you don't want any more, I'm fine with that. I'm not going to push you into anything you don't want to do."

Calleigh bowed her head, her eyes closed.

"Horatio, I'd give anything to bear your children. But I can't. I can't have kids of my own. I was in a car crash when I was a teenager, and the damage… I can't conceive."

Without thinking, Horatio reached out and pulled Calleigh to him. She didn't cry, but she was obviously distressed.

"Sweetheart, it's okay. It's okay. We have the twins, and that's enough. I promise, I love you for you, and your inability to conceive doesn't change that. I promise."

Calleigh snaked her arms around his waist and breathed deeply. Oh, how she'd missed being held like this!

"I love you too, Horatio. I do want to be with you, and I'm so sorry for freaking out."

"It's all right, Sweetheart. I should have talked to you first, rather than springing it on you like that." They sat together in silence, just holding each other for a while, before Horatio smiled down at her.

"Anything else I should know about?"

Calleigh shrugged before returning the smile.

"Well let's see… parents are divorced, scared of ants, can't conceive, hate cauliflower… I think that's it. You?"

"Hmm, dead parents, supporting my illegitimate niece, can't watch horror movies without the lights on… yeah, I think you know all of the important things. So, are you going to move back in?"

"That depends. Do you still have the ring?"

Horatio's smile grew wider and he rose to fetch the engagement ring he'd bought her. It was a simple diamond flanked by an emerald either side. Calleigh slipped it onto her finger, and leaned up to kiss her new fiancé.

"Well then," Horatio murmured as they pulled apart, "we'd better get cracking. We've got a wedding to plan."


	3. Chapter 3

"What was I thinking when I agreed to marry you?" Calleigh wondered aloud as Horatio laughed at her. "It's not that funny!"

"Well, you're the one who decided to come back," Horatio reasoned. "You've no one to blame but yourself."

"So you're saying I should move back into Yelina's spare room? Well, if you insist…" Calleigh started to rise from her seat, only to be grabbed from behind and lifted off the ground by Horatio, who proceeded to swing her around in circles.

"Oh no you don't. You came back and accepted that ring, and now you're going to stay." She could tell that he was happy from the laughter in his voice, and it started her off as well.

"Put me down, you brute!" She barely managed to get the words out through her laughter. "I need to finish planning this monstrosity!"

The two had decided on a fairly small, simple wedding. Given that they shared most of the same friends and acquaintances, it wasn't that difficult to keep the guest list short.

Naturally, Alexx was going to be a bridesmaid, and her family would be attending. Speed and Eric would be there as well, possibly with dates. The rest of the lab-rats – Tyler, Joseph, Maxine and Cynthia – were also coming. Frank Tripp was to be best man, and Calleigh had chosen Yelina as matron of honour. Her father was giving her away, and her mother was flying over from Louisiana to attend. Ray Jr. was going to be the page boy, and after some debate, they had decided to invite Madison to be the flower girl.

Horatio had been a little concerned about having Yelina and Susie in the same room, but Calleigh reasoned that Yelina thought Madison was his daughter. No one else at the lab knew about her, so as long as they didn't say anything to the contrary, it would be okay. And Susie had already made it clear that she wasn't going to say anything. So that was that, and Susie would be attending as a guest.

Other than that, there were just a few people from the lab and police force. They didn't want a large crowd, but still wanted to be able to have a decent party afterward.

The two lovers were interrupted from their playing by their phones going off simultaneously. Horatio reluctantly put a still-giggling Calleigh back on her feet and glanced at his phone. He then grabbed it and looked closer at the code. Calleigh was about to make a crack about his eyesight, when she caught the look on his face.

"Horatio?"

"A brother's gone down."

-DT-

Horatio and Calleigh lay on the couch, their cases wrapped up, happily watching their beloved children playing with blocks on the carpet in front of them. Even though they were twins, Willy and Rosie were developing at different speeds, something that Calleigh liked to keep track of. Rosie had crawled and walked early, and her coordination was excellent, but she struggled with her speech. Willy, on the other hand, could usually get his message across verbally, and was using new words every day, but he was only just starting to walk. Despite their differences, however, the siblings obviously adored each other, and both loved cuddles and attention from their parents.

Calleigh did some quick calculations, and realised with a jolt that they were nearly a year old – in fact, they were just six weeks from their first birthday. They were going to have to plan a party for them, and it was only two weeks after that before Horatio and Calleigh would be married. This was going to be a busy summer.

-DT-

Speed groaned in annoyance. The break room had turned into bride central. All of the girls in the lab seemed to have bought Calleigh wedding magazines, and bridal brochures, and dress catalogues, and dozens of other things of that ilk. He couldn't understand it.

If he was honest with himself, and he rarely was, Speed was a little bit jealous. Everyone who met Calleigh ended up falling in love with her sunny disposition and glamorous looks, and speed had been very fond of her for a long time. But she was marrying Horatio, and he'd just have to get over it.

He made his way down to the gun lab, where Calleigh seemed to be hiding. She'd shown about as much enthusiasm for the magazines as the boys had, which made him a little curious. Okay, very curious. He tapped on the door as he entered, seeing Calleigh deep in discussion with Eric.

"Hey guys, what're you planning in here?"

"Calleigh needs our help," Eric informed him. "She's in need of a wedding dress that doesn't make her look like a meringue. Or a mushroom."

"Eric!" Calleigh leaned over and smacked him on the arm.

"What? It's true," came the indignant reply. Speed shrugged and intervened before a war could break out.

"So ditch the magazines and head to the mall. Or the markets. There's bound to be something more flattering there."

Calleigh sighed.

"But I need someone to go with me, and all the girls are busy for the next few weeks. I can't go by myself, I just can't."

Speed and Eric shared a look, then shrugged to each other. They'd known what they were going to have to do as soon as Calleigh had started to look dejected. She really did have them wrapped around her little finger.

"Well," Eric started, "our case is all wrapped up. We've got the afternoon free, we'll go with you to find a dress."

"You will?" Calleigh perked up immediately at the nods from the boys. "Oh, thank you! I won't forget this, I promise!"

"One condition," Speed interjected. "If this takes more than two hours, you have to feed us."

"Deal."

-DT-

An hour later, the three friends were in the mall, looking for a decent dress shop. They steered right away from anything with ruffles, or mounds of taffeta, and Calleigh wasn't too keen on pure white either.

"White is traditionally for virgins," she explained. "And we all know that that's not me. Not anymore, anyway."

Time ticked on. They went into several different stores, and came out of them all disappointed. Sure, she tried on a few things – even bought a few outfits for the honeymoon – but the perfect dress just didn't seem to be there.

Calleigh was about to call it quits, when simultaneously the boys grabbed one of her arms each, and pointed at a store window.

"That one!" They exclaimed triumphantly, and after a moment, Calleigh had to agree with them. It was definitely her wedding dress.

-DT-

Horatio quietly slipped into his house some time after midnight. He'd just gotten back from New York, and had called a cab to drive him back home. It was too late to bother Calleigh. Sure, he could have waited until tomorrow and gotten in at a more reasonable hour, but that would mean spending more time in the city he used to call home. Now, he couldn't stand the place. And besides, he'd missed his family. So as soon as the case was wrapped up, he'd booked the next flight home.

He wondered briefly how the things had been at the lab during his absence. Calleigh had temporarily been in charge again, and she hadn't mentioned any problems to him. Technically, Speed was the more senior CSI and should probably have been second-in-command, but everyone knew that he wasn't cut out to be a leader. In fact, the scruffy young man had threatened to resign if left in charge. Horatio knew he was only joking about that, but the fact of the matter was that the younger man simply wasn't comfortable giving orders. He had a hard enough time following them.

The house was dark and quiet, except for the sounds of breathing coming from the lounge room. Horatio, puzzled, decided to investigate. He smiled at the sight that greeted him.

Calleigh, Speed and Eric were all fast asleep on the couch. Eric was in the middle and had an arm around each of his friends, both of whom had curled up into him. Apparently they had fallen asleep during one of Calleigh's favourite scary movies – Resident Evil. The DVD menu on the TV screen was the only light in the room, and Horatio shook his head. He couldn't help it – ever since he was young, he couldn't watch a scary film unless the lights were on. Calleigh found it endearing – and also annoying whenever she wanted a horror movie. So, she'd taken to only watching horrors with Speed and Eric, opting more for action or comedy with Horatio.

Deciding to leave the three friends as they were, Horatio went to check on his children. He hadn't seen them in several days and missed them terribly. He softly opened the door, smiling again as the night-light on the wall illuminated the sleeping forms of the twins. Both were breathing deeply and cuddling their toys, so Horatio left them in peace and returned to the other room.

He approached Calleigh and gently laid a hand on her shoulder. She slowly opened her eyes, a large smile crossing her face as she recognised her fiancé. He carefully placed a finger on her lips before she could speak, and nodded toward the boys. She nodded in return and smoothly extricated herself from the pile of bodies. Both Calleigh and Horatio had to bite back a laugh as Eric blindly reached out in his sleep for the warm body that had left him, then turned and snuggled with Speed. One look at the evil glint in Horatio's eyes was enough to tell Calleigh what he was planning, and she fished her camera out of her purse. He took it with a smile, and then snapped a quick photograph of the boys. To his surprise, the flash didn't wake them – instead they just snuggled in closer to each other.

Calleigh stifled another laugh before taking Horatio's hand and leading him to the bedroom. Horatio had barely enough time to place the camera down on the nightstand before Calleigh jumped into his arms and wrapped her legs around his waist.

"Welcome home, Handsome," she whispered before claiming her 'hello' kiss.

-DT-

Later, when Horatio had been thoroughly welcomed back, he smiled down at Calleigh, who lay half sprawled across his chest.

"You know," he whispered playfully, "if that's what you're going to be like every time I come home, I may have to leave you on your own more often."

"Don't you dare," Calleigh smacked him on the shoulder, a smile in her voice. Horatio chuckled and wrapped his arms around her.

"Your wish is my command," he whispered as they fell into a peaceful sleep.

-DT-

Several weeks later, the day of the twins' birthday dawned clear and bright. The children themselves didn't really know what was going on, but given the excitement from their parents over the last few days, they knew something good was coming.

They woke up early to find their parents already in the room, smiling down at them. Calleigh picked up Willy and Woofer, whilst Horatio collected Rosie and Dolly. The toys had become constant companions for the youngsters, even when they were at child care.

Out in the lounge room were two stacks of presents, one for each child. With a delighted squeal, they leapt into tearing off the wrapping paper. Eric and Speed had chipped in together to get a rideable car for each of them – hot pink for Rosie and royal blue for Willy. They were immediate favourites.

Alexx had been a little more practical, with some dresses and other outfits as well as a new picture-book each. Yelina had gone through Ray Junior's old baby things and sorted out some soft toys for them.

In all, it was a very profitable morning for the twins, who babbled at each other and showed off their new toys. The adults had decided not to have a party for them today; instead the four would be going out to dinner. Both twins were happily eating solids now, and Calleigh figured that it was high time they were exposed to traditional American junk food.

Before that, though, was a trip to the beach, where they could spend the morning relaxing. The twins didn't often get taken to the beach, so this was a very special treat for them. It wasn't that Horatio or Calleigh didn't like the beach – far from it – it was rather a matter of numbers. They didn't often get the same days off, and with the kids now able to run, they needed to both be present in case of trouble.

It was a beautiful day, and the twins had a lot of fun collecting shells, playing in the sand and splashing in the shallow water – accompanied at all times by one of the adults, of course. Shortly before noon they packed up and went home, where everyone fell asleep for the hottest hours of the day. Running around after a couple of toddlers was exhausting – and keeping parents running around was just as tiring.

-DT-

Horatio winced as he opened his eyes. Sweet Lord he was hung over. He groaned as the blood started pounding in his ears and he glanced at his watch. Calleigh was going to kill him – they were getting married in six hours, and Horatio was fairly sure he was going to still be seeing double.

-DT-

As soon as Eric, Speed and Frank turned up on his doorstep, Horatio knew he was in trouble. Frank was looking far too innocent, and the boys were wearing their tell-tale smirks. He turned to Calleigh, who was putting the finishing touches on her makeup in the hall.

"Cal, permission to stay home and hide from whatever it is these three have planned?"

"Not granted," Calleigh calmly replied. "Now go. Have fun. Just don't get arrested."

-DT-

From the looks of the cell he was in, Horatio hadn't exactly followed Calleigh's instructions. He racked his brains, trying to figure out what it was that he had done to end up here alone… with a traffic cone next to him.

-DT-

First stop had been a waterfront bar for a few drinks, to 'loosen him up' as Eric put it.

"Is this really necessary, Frank?" Horatio had asked his friend.

"Of course it is," Frank nodded. "This is your stag night, you need to get wasted."

"And visit a strip club," Eric interjected.

"And if the night goes really well, end up in jail." Speed finished.

-DT-

 _Apparently,_ Horatio thought as he slipped on his sunglasses to reduce his headache, _the night was a success._

*Insert title sequence here*

-DT-

Horatio had already been decidedly tipsy when they had arrived at El Sleazo Café, one of Eric's favourite strip joints. He didn't remember much of the place, beyond some very fit and attractive dancers on the stages. He seemed to recall Speed getting a lap dance… though that may have been his imagination.

The last thing he could remember clearly was Frank pouring the beer, and Eric pressing another glass on him. He silently cursed the fact that Eric always seemed able to get him to drink more. This made twice that the younger man had gotten Horatio passed-out drunk.

-DT-

Several feet away, Horatio's three friends were getting the coffee ready. They figured he would need it.

"Do you think he remembers much about last night?" Speed asked as he sipped his cola.

"I doubt it," Frank shrugged. "By the time he passed out, he'd had more than enough to impair his memory."

"Heh, think we should let him out?" Eric raised an eyebrow. Frank glanced at his watch.

"Yeah, I think we've worried him long enough." The detective fished the keys to the cell out of his pocket and nodded at the duty officer on the way down the hall.

Inside the cell, Horatio was sitting with his head in his hands. What if he missed the ceremony? Calleigh was going to go ballistic. And what was it that he'd done to end up here?

He raised his head upon hearing male laughter, and saw the three men from the previous night standing at the door to the lock-up. He shot them a glare, which just made them laugh harder.

"Okay, fess up. I didn't get arrested, did I?"

"Nope!" Eric grinned at him.

"Then what the Hell am I doing here?" He growled through gritted teeth.

"'Cause we thought it'd be funny," Frank shrugged, earning another glare.

"Frank, you're lucky I don't have the power to fire you. You two, on the other hand…"

"Oh, lighten up, H," Speed rolled his eyes. "Here's your coffee. Drink up, we need to get you ready. You're getting married in five hours, and Calleigh will kill us all if you're not presentable."

As Eric helped Horatio to his feet, Frank turned to the scruffy young man next to him.

"So, where did you head off to after we dumped H here?"

Speed shrugged, quickly covering the brief flash of guilt on his face. Frank caught it though, and grinned.

"You went home with a girl, right? That stripper?"

"Something like that," Speed muttered. He couldn't look Frank in the eye, though. It went unnoticed as Eric and Horatio moved between them, the older man leaning heavily on the younger and muttering curses under his breath.

Falling to the back of the group, Speed swallowed hard. What had he done last night? He couldn't remember the details, but he'd probably ruined the most important friendship in his life, that's what he'd done. Because as he inhaled, he could still smell Calleigh's scent on his shirt.

-DT-

Calleigh groaned as she drifted awake, and burrowed deeper into the arms that held her. Upon hearing a contented purr, however, she stiffened. That wasn't the sound Horatio made when they snuggled. And the scent that filled her nose wasn't Horatio's, either.

Trying to stay calm, she took stock of the situation. She didn't feel hurt at all, and she was still fully clothed. That was something.

Hang on a minute though… this wasn't what she'd been wearing last night. Last night she'd gone out in a skirt and halter top. Now she was wearing a T-shirt, and not much else. Wait, her underwear was still on. Okay, it could be worse.

More than a little afraid of what she'd see, Calleigh opened her eyes and looked up at the man wrapped around her affectionately.

Scruffy black hair. Two-day-old stubble. Skin to rival Horatio's in the paleness department. She was in bed with Speed, wearing his shirt, and he was topless.

"Oh… shit," she swore aloud, causing Speed to wake as well. He stared at her for a moment, seeming unable to process what he was seeing. After a moment, he managed to focus on what she was wearing.

"Uh, Cal? Why are you wearing my shirt?"

"I don't know!" Calleigh moaned as she sat up and buried her face in her hands. "I don't remember anything about last night!"

She was on the verge of tears. Had she screwed up again? She just didn't know. Speed lay there, desperately trying to remember what had happened between them last night, but he was drawing a blank.

"Cal, did we-"

"I don't want to talk about it!" Calleigh shrieked. "I can't believe this…"

Speed quickly sat up and pulled her into a hug as she started to cry. Maybe it wasn't the best thing to do given their current situation, but he couldn't help himself.

"I'm sorry, Calleigh," he whispered. "God, I'm so sorry. I never meant to do this to you."

"What are we going to do?" Calleigh asked in a broken voice. "I'm supposed to be getting married today… how can I face Horatio like this?"

"Hold up a sec," Speed interrupted. "You can't throw away your marriage over this. Look, we don't even know for sure that we had sex. You're fully clothed, I've still got my pants on…"

"Speed, we woke up cuddled together very intimately in your bed, and we were drunk last night. And I'm in your shirt! How do you explain this if we didn't have sex?"

"Maybe…" Speed tried to think of something, then hung his head. "I don't know. But I know that you wouldn't sleep with someone other than Horatio of you were in full control of your faculties, you just wouldn't. So don't cancel the wedding, please don't."

"Speed… I've betrayed Horatio. We've betrayed him. How can I marry him?"

Speed looked her in the eye, knowing she was going to balk at his suggestion.

"We draw a line. Last night never happened. We walk out of this room and forget about it."

Calleigh broke eye contact first.

"I… I don't know if I can." She slowly stood and saw her shirt tossed on a chair. Picking it up, she found an empty tequila bottle underneath. Well, that would explain the memory loss. Upon closer examination of her shirt, she realised that it was ripped – the string that held it up around her neck had been torn away from the fabric. Biting her lip, she turned to Speed, who was still sitting on the edge of his bed.

"Uh, do you have a safety pin? Or a needle and thread so I can fix this?"

Speed looked around, then went into the bathroom. After a few minutes he returned with a couple of safety pins and held them out to her. She smiled shyly and took them, then turned away to get dressed.

Five minutes later she left his apartment, heading to Yelina's house, where she would get ready for the wedding. Or cancel it. She still wasn't sure – how could she pledge to be faithful to Horatio when she may have just had sex with one of her best friends the night before? Suddenly, the dress she'd chosen seemed very appropriate, and she hated the fact that Speed had helped her to choose it.

Calleigh sighed as she took a seat on the bus. This was an absolute nightmare. After everything she and Horatio had been through to get this far, and she had probably just screwed it up even further. Possibly beyond redemption this time.

Then it occurred to her. How had she ended up at Speed's apartment? He'd been with the boys at Horatio's stag night, and she'd been out with the girls. How had their paths crossed? She was fairly sure that Yelina and Frank had compared notes in order to avoid meeting up. Maybe they'd ended up at a bar near Speed's place? Or had he come looking for her? Or worse – had she sought him out?

With a jolt, Calleigh saw that she was almost at Yelina's, and hit the driver alert button before standing and making her way to the door. She dismounted with a nod to the driver and began walking. She still had nearly six hours until the wedding – plenty of time to think about things.

When she reached Yelina's house, she rang the bell. It was several minutes before a dishevelled Yelina opened the door, blinking blearily at her. Calleigh couldn't help but smile. The Columbian detective looked about as bad as Calleigh felt. It seemed to take a moment before she recognised the blonde woman, but when she did she smiled broadly.

"Ah, here's the bride! I see Speed got you home safely." Calleigh froze.

"You saw me leave with Speed?" She whispered. Yelina looked at her, puzzled.

"Of course. After he scared that jackass off, he said he'd take you home. Even took off his shirt so that you wouldn't have to walk around in your bra."

"Yelina…" Calleigh's mind was racing, "what exactly happened last night?"

-DT-

It was past midnight by the time the three women had left Alexx's house. They'd started the night there, talking and drinking, before Yelina had decided that they needed to go see half-naked men dancing for money. Alexx and Calleigh both agreed, and they had found their way to Shameless. The club was about as classy as it sounded, but it had sexy male dancers, so it was all good.

The women had continued drinking, laughing and dancing far into the night. Eventually, when the club closed at around three in the morning, they decided to head home. As they had been stumbling towards the bus stop, Yelina had stopped to throw up in a rubbish bin. Alexx had gone over to check that she was all right. When they turned around again, Calleigh had been fighting off a man who had tried to grab at her.

Sober, Calleigh was a fearsome fighter. Drunk she wasn't that bad, but the man had been bigger and stronger. Before the other women could reach her, however, Speed had appeared out of nowhere and tapped the guy on the shoulder. The man had turned around, only to meet Speed's fist coming the other way. One punch was enough to lay him out. As he went down, however, his hand caught Calleigh's top and ripped it open.

Alexx and Yelina reached her then and both wrapped their arms around their friend. After a moment, she burst into tears. The women did their best to soothe her, while Speed took off his shirt and held it out to her. She needed help putting it on, but at least she was now covered up again.

Speed's apartment was within walking distance, so he assured the others that he'd take Calleigh there and take care of her. He'd also muttered something about having a bottle of tequila waiting for him. Alexx and Yelina had then taken a cab back home, and Speed had walked Calleigh back to his place, figuring that the walk would probably do her good.

-DT-

"So that's all that happened," Calleigh sighed in relief. Yelina raised an eyebrow, encouraging her to elaborate. "Well, I woke up wearing Speed's shirt, in his bed, and neither of us could remember what had happened."

Yelina laughed, then clutched her head and winced.

"Oooph, hangover. Not good. But no, I'm certain nothing happened between you. He just came to your rescue and made sure you were okay. That's all."

"Oh, thank God. I was so scared that I'd messed things up again."

"No, not at all. Now, hurry up – we need to get you ready for your wedding!"

-DT-

Horatio stood resplendent in a dark blue suit, waiting for his bride at the altar. After several cups of coffee, some water and some painkillers, he no longer felt the after-effects of the previous night, so his powers of observation were back at full strength.

Speed had been jittery around him for the first couple of hours that morning. He hadn't been able to work out why, but before he could confront him, the younger man had received a phone call. After that, he seemed to relax and go back to his usual sardonic self. Horatio shrugged it off, figuring that he'd probably just done something stupid whilst drunk.

He was shaken out of his thoughts when the bridal march started. Ray Jr. appeared at the back of the church and walked forward, carrying the rings. Horatio smiled fondly at his nephew. He looked very smart in his suit, and his uncle and mother were both very proud of him.

Once he'd reached the altar, Madison appeared, and Horatio's heart tightened at the sight of her. Both of Raymond's children were at his wedding, and he wished that Ray himself could have been there too. He would have been swept away by his pretty little girl. She was in a soft pink dress and white sandals, her beautiful red hair pinned back so that it was out of her face but still flowing down her back. She had a small, shy smile as she dropped handfuls of dark red rose petals.

Several steps behind her was Yelina, in darker pink. She was certainly beautiful, and Horatio glanced at her date – somehow, Rick Stettler had worn her down and they had been in a relationship for the past few months. Horatio wasn't sure he approved of this, but realised that it wasn't his place to object.

Yelina reached the altar and gave him a knowing wink before taking her place next to Madison. Horatio looked up to where Calleigh was standing with her father and felt his jaw drop. That… was certainly not a conventional wedding dress. She did look stunning in it, though.

The bodice was form-fitting crimson satin, with straps around the upper arms that left Calleigh's neck and shoulders bare. The full skirt was also dark red, with black netting over the top. When she started to walk forward, he saw red shoes gracing her feet. Looking back up, she held dark red roses in her hands, and around her neck was a gold necklace with a ruby pendant. Her beautiful pale locks were pinned up, and covered with a fine red veil.

She was the most beautiful creature Horatio had ever seen.

He could faintly hear people whispering about her appearance, but Horatio only had eyes for his bride as she and her father approached. They reached the altar, and Horatio remembered to close his mouth. Calleigh was smiling widely, a twinkle in her eyes. She knew exactly how the dress was affecting her soon-to-be-husband, and was again very glad that she'd chosen it.

Kenwall Duquesne gave his daughter's hand a final squeeze before relinquishing her to Horatio, and stepped down to sit next to his estranged wife, who already had tears in her eyes. Calleigh turned and gave her bouquet to Yelina, then she and Horatio faced the priest, and settled in for the ceremony.

-DT-

As Horatio and Calleigh kissed for the first time as husband and wife, the entire congregation broke out in applause. The two broke apart, slightly embarrassed. They then looked at each other, shrugged, and kissed again. They were married now – they were allowed, nay, expected to show their affection for each other whenever they felt like it.

This time they laughed as they separated, before turning and heading out of the church. The reception was being held at a nearby club that they'd rented out for the evening. The owners had been more than happy to oblige after Horatio had flashed his badge.

The drinks had been flowing for a while, when Frank and Yelina stood up on the small stage to make an announcement.

"As you all know," Frank started, "a reception just isn't complete without a great deal of embarrassment all round. So, we have here a karaoke machine."

"But that's not all," Yelina called out over the protestations of the guests. "To spice things up, we've added a little game. Everyone must come up here and grab a name out of this jar. The song you sing must have something to do with the person you're given. We'll give you ten minutes after everyone has received their names, and then we'll start."

Calleigh and Horatio shared a glance as they went up to collect their names. This would certainly be interesting.

First up was Yelina, to get the ball rolling. She'd been given Horatio's name, leading to a few raised eyebrows. The song she'd chosen was from a musical she'd seen a few years ago, and it was called 'Amigos Para Siempre', or 'Friends for Life'. She wasn't a particularly good singer, but made up for it with enthusiasm.

"Amigos para siempre means you'll always be my friend,  
Amigos para siempre means a love that never ends,  
Friends for life not just a summer or a spring  
Amigos para siempre…" (1)

She received an enthusiastic round of applause when she finished. By the rules they'd made, it was now Horatio's turn to sing. It turned out he'd received Calleigh's name. He had chosen one of Billy Joel's songs for her, much to her delight.

"She turns to me sometimes  
And she asks me what I'm dreaming  
And I realise I must have gone  
A million miles away.  
And I ask her how she knew  
To reach out for me at that moment.  
And she smiles because,  
It's understood:  
There are no words to say."(2)

There was a round of 'aww's when he finished, and Calleigh welcomed him back to his seat with a kiss, then jumped up to sing to her target. She was grinning evilly.

"Okay, I'm not telling y'all who I'm singing for. See if you can guess." The music started up and she began to sing.

"He's a tramp.  
But they love him  
Breaks a new heart  
Every day…"(3)

The entirety of the lab was in hysterics, all pointing at Eric, who was grinning good-naturedly. Yeah, he knew that he was a bit of a tramp. He just didn't care.

This meant that it was now Eric's turn, and he was singing a Meatloaf song to Speed. The song was about a motorcycle crash.

"And I'm dying at the bottom of a pit in the blazing sun…  
Torn and twisted at the foot of a burning bike…  
And I think somebody somewhere must be tolling a bell.  
And the last thing I see is my heart  
Still beating… still beating…  
Breaking out of my body and flying away  
Like a bat out of hell!"(4)

Speed found it highly amusing, and was chuckling as he went up to sing a Disney song for Frank.

"Why should I worry?  
Why should I care?  
Say, I may not have a dime  
Oh, but I got street savoir-faire."(5)

Frank rolled his eyes. Yeah, he still had a fair bit of street in him, but it got the job done. He clapped Speed on the back as he went up to sing an Oingo Boingo song for Joseph, resident prints guy.

"Weird science!  
Plastic tubes and pots and pans  
Bits and pieces and  
Bits and pieces and  
Bits and  
Weird science!"(6)

Everyone got into the song, and agreed that it was fitting. At the end, Joseph got up and was able to take a stab at everyone's not-so-favourite IAB investigator, Stettler.

"Oh Lord, it's hard to be humble  
When you're perfect in every way…"(7)

He finished to uproarious laughter from the crowd – and even a smirk from Stettler himself. The guy didn't seem quite so bad away from work. At least here he was able to take the piss. He went up to sing, and also gave a little dedication first.

"Now Christine, I know you're always bringing Chinese take-out to the lab for lunch. So…"

"Did you ever think  
When you eat Chinese,  
It ain't pork or chicken  
But a fat Siamese.

Yet the food tastes great  
So you don't complain  
But that's not chicken  
In your chicken Chow Mein."(8)

The song earned another round of applause, and a shouted "I'm never eating Chinese again!" from the QD girl. Who knew that Stettler could be so much fun? Christine made her way to the front to sing for Valera, who had just dumped her loser boyfriend.

"I was told to tow the line  
Instead I kissed the boys and made them cry…"(9)

Valera rolled her eyes, but laughed along with the others before getting up to sing for resident techno-geek Tyler. She'd chosen the ending song from Portal, his favourite game.

"Aperture science  
We do what we must  
Because we can.  
For the good of all of us  
Except the ones who are dead.

Now there's no sense crying over every mistake  
You just keep on trying till you run out of cake  
And the science gets done  
And you make a neat gun  
For the people who are still alive."(10)

Tyler applauded loudly. She had definitely won a fan in him. That made it Tyler's turn to sing a song for Alexx. He'd also chosen an Oingo Boingo song that seemed appropriate.

"All dressed up with nowhere to go.  
Walking with a dead man… with a dead man…  
Waiting for an invitation to arrive.  
Walking with a dead man over my shoulder!"(11)

Alexx nodded. So she'd occasionally had to heft a dead body over her shoulder… it was no big deal. The rest of the lab found it amusing though, and that's what mattered. She moved up as the final singer, ready to serenade Yelina with a fast chick song.

"Tight-knitted, we're fitted,  
No one can break us, take us  
Away from each other, brother.  
'Cause when the girls wanna hit the scene  
Together like a team  
We're gonna take it to the extreme."(12)

Her previously unknown rapping skills quickly became the toast of the lab. And as the party wound down, everyone agreed that it had been great fun.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Song list:
> 
> 1: Amigos Para Siempre was written by Andrew Lloyd Webber, and was the official theme of the Barcelona 1992 Games.
> 
> 2: All About Soul is by Billy Joel.
> 
> 3: He's a Tramp from Lady And The Tramp by Disney.
> 
> 4: Bat Out Of Hell by Meatloaf.
> 
> 5: Why Should I Worry? From Oliver and Company by Disney.
> 
> 6: Weird Science by Oingo Boingo.
> 
> 7: Hard To Be Humble is by Mac Davis.
> 
> 8: Cat's In The Kettle by Sean Morey.
> 
> 9: Lonely is by Meryl Bainbridge.
> 
> 10: Still Alive is from the game Portal, and is awesome.
> 
> 11: Dead Man's Party is also by Oingo Boingo.
> 
> 12: Last Ones Standing is by Girl Thing.


	4. Chapter 4

Calleigh stretched lazily as she rose from the bed, a large smile on her face. She and Horatio had driven to this small bed and breakfast on the outskirts of Orlando for their honeymoon. They were far enough from Miami that the city's troubles wouldn't reach them, but close enough that they could be back within hours if something went wrong with the twins.

After much debate on whether or not to bring the children, they had ended up leaving them with Alexx for the two weeks they were planning on being away. Horatio had had a difficult time leaving them behind for so long, but Alexx and Calleigh had teamed up to persuade him that it was for the best.

They were only a few days into the honeymoon, and Horatio seemed to have relaxed now. He was currently curled up on the couch reading a book that had nothing to do with police work or crime. Calleigh was very impressed.

-DT-

Back in Miami, Eric and Speed had, much to their dismay, been conned into baby-sitting again. Alexx was attending a one-day medical seminar, and had decided that the boys would be the most suitable caregivers for the day. So she'd dropped the twins off with Eric just before nine in the morning and waved a cheery goodbye, assuring them that she'd be back around four.

Figuring that they couldn't get into much trouble, Eric put the twins on the ground in his lounge room and spread their colouring things on his coffee table.

"Okay you two, Uncle Eric needs a shower. So you're going to stay here with your colouring books, and when I'm done we'll call Uncle Speed and see where the lazy ass is, okay?"

"Speed!" Came the happy chorus, and Eric chuckled. He was going to have to watch his language around them now – and try to get Speed to tone down the innuendos.

Eric showered quickly and was out again in less than ten minutes. Alexx had warned him not to leave the kids on their own for too long. When he went back to check on them, he realised why.

Apparently, they had gotten tired of colouring in their books. So they'd moved on to the wall. Eric gritted his teeth and breathed out slowly. Willy noticed his presence and smiled up at him, then pointed to the drawing.

"Eric! We draw!"

"Yeah, you did," Eric muttered as he picked up one kid in each arm. "But you shouldn't draw on the wall."

"No wall?" Rosie queried.

"No wall," he confirmed.

"Trouble?" Willy asked, looking upset, and Eric hastened to reassure him.

"No, you're not in trouble. Just, stick to the paper, okay?" He placed them down again in front of the coffee table and sighed. At least it had just been pencil, that shouldn't be too hard to scrub off.

Speed chose that moment to knock on the door, and Eric smiled in relief.

"Oh thank Christ," he muttered and quickly opened the door. "Get in here. You got any ideas on how to keep two toddlers occupied for a day?"

Speed blinked in surprise, then shrugged.

"Video store?"

-DT-

Since there were no baby seats in Eric's car and Speed had his motorcycle, they opted to walk to the store. It wasn't that far – just a couple of blocks – and they could always carry the twins if they got too tired. Pretty soon, they realised that it was going to take some time to reach the store like this, given the twins' pace and the fact that they kept stopping to examine things. Eventually, after twenty minutes and only one block, Eric picked up Willy and Speed lifted Rosie. The twins thought this was great fun, and continued pointing and babbling. Their babbles were starting to sound more and more like actual words now, and the two men could mostly understand what they were talking about.

They walked into the big, bright video store and looked around, a little intimidated. Neither man had rented kids videos in their adult lives. Speed spotted the sign first and pointed to it. Upon reaching the 'family' aisle, they set the twins down to let them have a look.

"So," Eric wondered aloud, "what do we get for a couple of one-year-olds?"

"Beats me," Speed shrugged. He randomly picked up a DVD with a penguin on the cover. "How about this?"

"Pingu?" Eric took it and looked at it. "Yeah, okay. That goes for a couple hours. What else…"

"Eric!" He felt a small hand tugging at his and looked down. Rosie was holding up a DVD. "This! Funny man!"

Eric took the case from her, then nearly choked when he saw what it was.

"Uh, sorry sweetie, but no. Not until you're eighteen. Or possibly older."

"What is it?" Speed raised an eyebrow, and Eric passed him the case. "Willy Wanker and the Chocolate Lube Factory?" They shared a look. "Yeah, uh, good call. Sorry kiddo, not for you. Where'd you get it?"

Rosie pointed at the next aisle, and both men groaned. Whoever set up this store needed to have their head examined – the porn section was right next to the kids section. Eric went and put the movie back, then led the twins back to the correct aisle.

"Okay you two, something from this shelf, not the other one."

After much deliberation, Rosie picked one with zoo animals on the front cover.

"Madagascar," Speed nodded. "Fair enough. What about you, Will?"

"Fishy!" Willy exclaimed as he saw the one he wanted. Eric pulled it down so he could look at it better.

"Finding Nemo. Okay, we'll go with these three. C'mon, let's check out."

"They're very cute," the young girl behind the counter commented on the twins as she served them. "Your kids?"

"Oh Hell no," Speed muttered. Unfortunately, Rosie heard him.

"Hell no!" She exclaimed at the top of her lungs, causing Speed to cover his face with his hands and Eric to glare at him.

"Nice going, Speed. We babysit for one hour and you teach them to swear."

"Hey now, that's not really a swear word. At least I didn't say fu- "

"That's enough!" Eric clapped his hand over his friend's mouth. "No more talking, please! If H finds out we corrupted his kids, there won't be enough left for Alexx to autopsy."

-DT-

Back at Eric's, they put on Finding Nemo and sat down to watch it with the kids. Ten minutes in, however, and the twins were both screaming in terror. The big fish scared them, and the mummy fish and all the babies had been eaten. Eric quickly turned it off, and the men tried to comfort the twins without swearing aloud.

"Okay, I think we can label that plan a failure," Eric called over the sounds of crying. Speed nodded.

"What the hell is that movie doing with a G rating?"

It took half an hour and a lot of cuddles, plus a biscuit each, but eventually they managed to settle the twins again, and decided to try Pingu. It looked like a clay-animation thing about a family of penguins, who hopefully weren't about to get eaten by a polar bear.

It turned out to be not a movie, but several ten-minute episodes of a TV series. The twins sat watching it, enthralled, and the boys were bored out of their brains. It was cutesy, sickeningly sweet and with little to no plot. But at least it wasn't making either of the twins cry, and today they were prepared to call that a glorious victory.

A few minutes into the final episode, Eric realised that it was going to be time to feed the kids soon. He put Rosie down on the floor from where she had been sitting in his lap, and went to the kitchen to find the food and lists that Alexx had left him. He pulled out a large plate that they could all share from and went to work preparing lunch.

Sandwiches. Alexx suggested cheese. That was simple enough to make, and he cut them into quarters so that the small hands could pick them up easily.

Fruit. Well, he had some bananas he could chop up. Some strawberries too, which would make a nice variety.

Rusk. Alexx had left a packed of the biscuity things, so they were added to the plate.

Meat. She'd also included a small container with chunks of roasted chicken meat.

A few minutes later, as the episode of Pingu was ending, the food was all arranged on the plate and Eric carried it back out to the lunge room, only to stop and smile. Apparently, the DVD had been even more boring than he'd realised, because Speed was fast asleep. Rosie and Willy, however, were still awake, and playing with his shoelaces.

"Hey kids," Eric said softly. "Leave Uncle Speed alone and come eat your lunch."

-DT-

Between the three of them, the plate was polished off in no time. Eric made sure that the kids ate plenty, but he had prepared rather a lot for two toddlers. After lunch, the twins started yawning. They were fed, happy and sleepy, a good combination in Eric's books. He dug Dolly and Woofer out of their bag, then retrieved some blankets and pillows for them. They'd be fine sleeping on the floor, he was sure.

Within minutes, they were both fast asleep. Eric set about cleaning up the kitchen, then grabbed a sponge to clean the wall where the little artists had shown off their talent earlier. Once the place was vaguely respectable again, he picked up a couple of magazines he'd been wanting to catch up with, and settled in for some reading.

The rest of the day was thankfully uneventful. Speed woke up not long before the twins, and was on the receiving end of much teasing for it. Upon waking up, the kids had needed their diapers changed – something accomplished with much less drama this time around – they had them all settled in to watch Madagascar. Rosie and Willy might not have understood what was going on, but they loved the bright colours and funny voices.

Afterward, they did some more colouring – this time all in their books – until it was time for Alexx to come get them.

"So, they behaved themselves?" Alexx asked with a smile.

"The twins? Yeah," Eric nodded. "They got scared at a movie we tried to watch, but that was understandable."

"What movie?"

"Finding Nemo."

"Ooh, I went to see that at the movies with Janie. Talk about scared… we had to leave after only a few minutes."

"Yeah. They liked Pingu though."

"Good. So no real trouble?"

"Hell no!" Rosie exclaimed in delight, then burst into giggles along with her brother.

Alexx turned and gave the boys one of her Looks. They both looked guilty, though Eric was pointing at Speed.

"Just so you know," she informed them, "I ain't taking the fall for that. She says it to her parents, I'm telling them she learned it here."

"Fair enough," Speed shrugged. Alexx left with the twins in tow, and Speed turned back to Eric.

"So, shall we find out what happens to Nemo?"

-DT-

Horatio and Calleigh had been back in Miami for less than a day when they were called in for a crime scene. A boat had crashed into one of the bridges, causing major damage. Eric and Speed were also called in, despite the whole team technically being on vacation. The director knew that Swing Shift, who had been filling in, would cave too easily to the demands of the Department of Infrastructure, so he assigned Horatio and his Day Shift to it.

As the case went on, Horatio began to feel uneasy. Something was wrong here, and it wasn't just the fact that they were dealing with a kidnapping-turned-murder. Something about the way the team was interacting just didn't sit right. Maybe it was because they were still getting used to him and Calleigh being married, but they'd never had a problem with it before.

When he went to talk to Mrs Williams about Joey not being her biological son, he decided to take Speed along with him. Maybe they'd get a chance to talk about whatever it was that was going on.

Instead, they mostly focussed on the case. It wasn't until they reached McCauley Jewellers that they had a short, light-hearted conversation that temporarily soothed Horatio's nerves. They pulled up behind a flashy red convertible, and Speed couldn't help but comment.

"Nice Rolls. Probably the owner's." He shook his head, really not understanding people with a car obsession. "These cars are such a bad investment. I'm just happy to have my bike."

"Someday," Horatio smiled at him, "you may need something with doors." But he couldn't imagine Speed ever actually owning a car. He even hated driving the company hummers, and Horatio was sure the younger man would take his bike to crime scenes if he thought Horatio would let him get away with it.

"Well, I got plenty of time for that," Speed muttered as he walked into the jeweller's ahead of his boss.

-DT-

Horatio was deep in conversation with Rudy the jeweller when he noticed Speed draw his gun, and alarm bells immediately went off. The scientist hated using his gun – he avoided touching it at all if he could – which meant this was serious.

The next thing he knew, a man was coming out of the back room and firing at Speed. Horatio didn't have a clear shot and ran forward just as he saw Speed go down. He returned fire, executing a perfect army-roll, and managed to take one of the assailants down.

As he leaned over Speed he grabbed his phone and shouted commands into it. He then grabbed his young friend and spoke to him, anything that crossed his mind, trying desperately to keep him connected to the realm of the living.

-DT-

Calleigh was the first at the scene. She roped off the area and directed the patrol officers to set up a perimeter, then went inside to stand watch over her husband, who still knelt over Speed's lifeless body. It sickened her to realise that her first reaction upon finding out it was Speed who was shot, had been relief. Relief that it wasn't Horatio lying there in a pool of blood. She felt so guilty for thinking like that, she barely noticed when Alexx arrived.

Alexx knelt next to her old friend and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Give him to me, Horatio," she told him gently. It was one of her worst nightmares, having to take a friend into her domain, but it needed to be done. Death was an old friend of hers. "He needs to go with me."

"Okay Alexx," Horatio whispered. He looked just like a lost little boy, and Alexx felt her heart breaking.

Horatio raised his eyes and met Calleigh's, seeing his own pain and loss mirrored in her. He picked up Speed's gun and made his way to her.

"Hey…" he didn't seem to know how to process this, so he automatically retreated behind his Lieutenant mask. "Okay, umm… I know you need to start processing firearms evidence. This is min and that's Speed's." He handed her the two weapons, glad that the best ballistics expert he knew was on the case.

Calleigh took a deep breath, then asked the questions she was afraid of.

"Is there anything I need to know about the shooting?" She knew that Horatio would know what she meant.

"Well… a lot of confusion." He briefly met her eyes again, and she could see that he didn't want her to ask any more. But she needed to. It was her job.

"And?" His hesitance was revealing in and of itself.

"And… Speed may have had to look at his gun."

They both had a pretty good idea of why that was.

"Okay," Calleigh whispered as she saw Rick Stettler walk in. Horatio followed her gaze, and something inside him seemed to snap.

"Well that was quick," he nearly growled his words. "IAB."

"I'm out," Calleigh whispered. If she took the guns away now, and started her examination, IAB would have a hell of a time trying to confiscate the evidence for themselves. Plus, it meant less time caught up in petty politics.

"Okay," Horatio nodded, understanding her position perfectly and backing her completely.

Stettler, for his part, seemed to be trying not to anger Horatio any further, but that was a lost cause.

"I'm sorry," he sympathised. "There's nothing worse."

"Thank you, Rick," Horatio accepted the commiseration in the spirit in which it was offered. Then Stettler opened his mouth again.

"It's an officer-involved shooting. You know I gotta work it."

"Yes. The body is still warm." There was a definite note of warning in Horatio's voice, and Stettler winced, knowing he wasn't making things any better.

"Unfortunately, that's the best time for me to be here." He paused, glancing at the ground. Speed's gun was nowhere to be seen. "Where's Speedle's gun?"

"See Calleigh," Horatio answered deliberately.

"And yours?" He already knew the answer, but was obliged to ask it.

"See Calleigh."

"You should sit down with a counsellor…" Stettler tried to get through, but Horatio was having none of it.

"The only therapy I need is finding the Williams boy," Horatio said quietly, reminding him that there was still a case going on. "But thanks for the offer." He turned back to work.

-DT-

"Oh, Speedle…" Calleigh had to fight to keep from breaking down in tears. The gun was filthy. He hadn't cleaned it, even with his close call last year and all the prompting from the rest of the team. He hadn't cared enough about his life to clean his damned gun.

She walked down the hall in search of Horatio, and saw Stettler. Realising that he was probably looking for her, she nodded a greeting.

"Detective." He stopped and turned to her.

"Are you working on the evidence from the jewellery store shooting?" As if he needed to ask. Who else would Horatio trust with something like this?

"I'm just starting, actually," Calleigh lied through her teeth. She wasn't going to give Rick anything to work with, not until she'd spoken to Horatio.

"Each case is unique," Stettler acknowledged, "but the last time Speedle was involved in a shooting, his service pistol misfired." He looked like he was trying not to accuse the dead man, and Calleigh briefly wondered what Stettler's motivation was for working with IAB. He could be decent enough when he wanted to be.

"I vaguely remember that," she admitted.

"Now one misfire's bad luck. Tow is… usually bad gun maintenance."

"Well, I haven't started examining Speedle's gun," she gave him a tight half-smile. "And like you said, every case is unique." She took great delight in throwing his words back at him.

"CC me on everything, please," Stettler asked softly as she turned away.

"Of course," Calleigh confirmed. What she meant, though, was 'not on your life'.

-DT-

Horatio stood in the locker room, knowing that he'd have to empty out Speed's locker, but unable to bring himself to do it just yet. Calleigh slowly approached, dreading having to tell Horatio her findings.

"You saved me," he stated matter-of-factly.

"I wanted you to see this before I gave it to Stettler," Calleigh said, handing him her report. "He definitely had to look at his gun."

Horatio looked at her, then back at the folder and read aloud.

"Lieutenant Cain's weapon expended six rounds. Tim Speedle's… Tim Speedle's malfunctioned." His voice broke slightly on the last word, and he had to look away. Calleigh could see his mind racing, trying to salvage something from a horrible situation. "There are many reasons for a misfire, aren't there?" Calleigh shrugged.

"Faulty mechanism, low-grade ammunition… poor gun maintenance." She knew where he was going with this.

"Designation of any one of those would be speculation on our part," Horatio said thoughtfully.

"We never speculate," Calleigh confirmed forcefully. "Bottom line, the gun malfunctioned."

"And that closes the IAB investigation, doesn't it?"

Calleigh nodded, then took a deep breath.

"Do you want me to help you with Tim's things?" She asked. She could feel herself starting to tear up, and knew her husband was close to the edge as well. She wasn't going to let him go through this alone, though, and he looked at her gratefully.

"Please," he whispered. Calleigh nodded and started to move toward the row of lockers. "Hey, come here." He pulled her into a tight hug and buried his face in her hair. He inhaled deeply, imprinting her scent on his memory, before pressing a kiss to her temple. "You hang in there," he told her.

"Same for you, Handsome," Calleigh whispered back in a broken voice.

-DT-

The smell of bacon filled Ryan Wolfe's nose as he drifted awake. He frowned and rolled out of bed. Bacon for breakfast meant that his housemate was about to take off. Again.

He wandered downstairs and into the kitchen, where he could hear Nevyn singing some rock song in German and dancing around in her underwear. Her waist-length black hair flew around her as she danced, setting off her lightly tanned skin and dark blue eyes. As she spun, she showed the tattoo on her collarbone, similar to the one on Ryan.

Ryan watched her antics for a moment with a smile, then entered the kitchen and started grabbing plates and cutlery.

"You know," he informed his friend, "you should really cover more skin when you're frying food."

"Yeah, probably," Nevyn responded in her thick Scottish accent, "but I couldn't be bothered finding a shirt."

"Of course," Ryan nodded. Really, he was lucky that she was even wearing underwear – quite often, she wandered around the house naked. It had happened so often that it hardly fazed him anymore, though if he brought a guy home it could cause trouble.

"So, you heading off somewhere?" He asked as the girl served up a bacon sandwich each.

"Yeah, India. Should only be a month or two, so don't sell off my stuff."

"Right," Ryan smiled as he carefully cut his sandwich in half and began to eat, leaning over his plate so as not to make a mess. Nevyn, on the other hand, ignored the plate he'd offered her and just chomped away at her breakfast.

"You apply for that transfer yet?" She asked around a mouthful of bacon. Ryan shrugged.

"They just lost a team member, I'm not sure if now's such a good time."

"Why the fuck not? They're gonna need someone, why shouldn't it be you?"

"I don't want to be a replacement," Ryan tried to explain. "From the sound of it, the guy worked there for a long time. And I have no experience in a lab."

"I call bullshit," Nevyn glared at him. "You're just scared. Go talk to that detective you like and ask her to put in a good word for you."

"You have such a sweet way with words, Nevyn."

"Yeah, I know. Now, you'd better have applied for that job by the time I get back. If not, I will be extremely disappointed in you. And will disorganise your closet and book collection."

"Now that's low," Ryan pretended to glare at her. "But okay, I'll do it."

"Good. Now go get ready for work, and I'll see you in a couple of months."

-DT-

It had only been a couple of weeks since Speed's death, and Horatio still caught himself looking for the younger man at crime scenes. He knew it would be a long time before he really let go of his co-worker and friend.

He sighed and got to work, discussing the latest body with Alexx. The poor girl had been hit by a Metro Bus, and definitely came out second best. As he looked around, he noticed a young patrol cop approach him with a notebook and raised his eyebrows.

"Lieutenant, I'm officer Wolfe." The young man appeared to be trying to make a good impression. Horatio looked at him over the tops of his sunglasses, a closed, nearly hostile look on his face. It didn't seem to deter the officer though. "I ascertained that there were no surveillance cameras, so I canvassed the witness to see if there was any camera or video equipment that might have filmed the incident. Got a couple of names, sir."

"Thank you," Horatio was mildly impressed. Patrol didn't usually go to these lengths at a crime scene. "We'll take it from here."

Officer Wolfe nodded and turned away. Eric looked after him, then turned back to Horatio with a half-smirk.

"He's thorough." Apparently Eric liked the kid too.

"Yes. Follow up, please."

"Will do, Lieutenant," the CSI threw a mock-salute to his boss, who graced him with a chuckle.

-DT-

*Detective Salas?* Ryan called out to Yelina as they passed in the hall. He'd always liked the Latina, ever since he'd been rotated to Miami, and had worked with her several times. The fact that he spoke fluent Spanish and could converse with her in her native language seemed to have helped.

*Yes, Ryan. What can I do for you?*

*I, uh… well, I know that you're close to Lieutenant Caine, and I've been thinking about putting in for a transfer to CSI.*

*Really?* Yelina raised an eyebrow.

*Yeah. So, I was wondering if, maybe, you could put in a good word for me? I really want to be a criminalist.*

*Okay,* Yelina nodded. *You have the relevant education; I'll set up an appointment with Horatio. I can't guarantee anything though,* she warned him as he beamed at her.

*Oh, I know. I really appreciate this, Detective.*

*Not a problem.*

-DT-

Yelina looked up from where she and Horatio were interrogating the sneak-thief and noticed Wolfe waiting outside. Right on time, she nodded to herself. She noticed that Horatio was already looking curiously at the young man, which was a good sign.

"Horatio."

"Yeah?"

"Your appointment's here. Ryan Wolfe."

"First officer from the Metro Bus case," he murmured. He remembered Wolfe, another good sign.

"He's asked me to put in a good word," Yelina admitted. Horatio raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"So he's not shy." He'd already known that really. Yelina smiled.

"Look, he's got a Bachelors in Chemistry, and he works patrol until he finishes his masters in genetics." Even Yelina had been impressed when she'd found out what Ryan was studying.

"Sounds like I should talk to him then," Horatio said as he turned to leave the room. Yelina shot a triumphant smile at the back of his head, before following him out and standing some distance from the men.

Outside, Ryan got to his feet as Horatio approached.

"Lieutenant," he reached out and shook Horatio's hand. "Thanks for meeting with me."

"Not a problem. Step over here, Wolf." He led the young officer further away from Yelina's gaze, to an empty cubicle where they could sit against the desks. "So Detective Salas tells me that you're thinking about a career change."

"Only if I can be a criminalist," Wolfe seemed certain of what he wanted. "I've done a dozen ride-alongs with Homicide, aced quantitative analysis, hit seminars. I'm ready."

"Okay, so no more patrol." Horatio felt there was something a little off in the young man, but decided to ignore it. He was probably just balking at hiring someone new because that would mean that Speed was really gone, and not coming back.

"Patrol's great," Ryan hastened to explain his position, "but there's no follow-through. Dispatch calls, you move on. CSI, you stay till the case is solved, victim's buried." Horatio could see the enthusiasm in Wolfe's eyes, and found himself warming to the young man. One final hurdle.

"Okay. Let me see your service pistol."

"Sir?" Wolfe was a little taken aback. It was an odd request for a job interview.

"Your weapon," Horatio smiled. "Let me see it." Wolfe still looked a little puzzled, but handed over his pistol. He'd been trained to follow orders, after all.

"Thank you," Horatio murmured as he inspected the gun, which was spotless. "Clean this every week?"

"More," Ryan admitted. "I'm a little OCD. Drives the watch commander crazy." He smiled to cover his nervousness. It had also been why he'd lost his last job.

Horatio looked up and noticed Yelina nodding. She liked the boy, but he did have a problem controlling his OCD at times. She just figured that it would make him a better criminalist – forever double-checking his results and following procedures.

"Okay," Horatio nodded back. "Let me see your backup."

Ryan handed it over, an uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach. He couldn't see Yelina from his position, and was very concerned that he'd just blown it.

Horatio inspected the backup revolver, which was also immaculately clean. He raised an eyebrow at the hopeful applicant in front of him.

"That is quite a case of OCD, Wolfe." He handed back the weapon, and Ryan closed his eyes, sighed and nodded.

"Did I just lose this job?" His voice was a curious mix of hopeful and resigned. Horatio smiled internally, though he didn't let Wolfe see it.

"You know what? I need to think about it. Have a seat over there." He nodded to the waiting area, deciding to let officer Wolfe squirm for a bit.

Horatio sighed as he looked over at Yelina, who was sporting a wide grin. She already knew that Horatio would hire young Ryan, and she was glad of it.

-DT-

"Horatio," Calleigh called out to her husband as she walked into the police department. He looked up and smiled at her.

"Hey, Sweetheart." The smile faded when he caught the look on her face. Kenwall was with her too. This couldn't be good. "What's going on?"

"My dad has come to turn himself in. I thought Detective Tripp would be best."

Frank looked up from where he'd been reading a report. Who was what now?

"My car was involved in an… an incident last night," Kenwall clarified. Horatio could smell his breath from where he stood, and winced.

"Sir, is the Scotch on your breath related to that incident?"

"My dad took a drink to calm his nerves before he came in. I witnessed it." Horatio looked at her, knowing that this was pushing things.

"So, the blood alcohol test is not gonna help us then." Calleigh just looked back at him. "You do realise that you're riding the line on this, right?" She nodded, pleading with her eyes for him to help her clear her beloved father. Horatio sighed. "Okay, Frank please?" He turned to the detective, who stood up.

"Yep." Frank knew what was going on now, and was prepared to help out.

"You'll take the lead on this. Hey, Wolfe?" He called out, and the young man stood to attention. "You're hired. Get your gear."

After all, they needed someone who wasn't biased toward Calleigh or her father.

-DT-

When Calleigh arrived home from dropping off her dad, she found Horatio sitting on the couch, a small child on either side of him, reading aloud from a picture book, something about a lost cow. She leaned against the door frame and smiled. This was her family, and she loved them all dearly. After a few minutes, she saw that both twins were asleep and moved forward to help her husband put them to bed.

Once the twins were safely asleep in their cribs, Calleigh returned to the lounge room and flopped down on the couch. Today had played merry Hell with her emotions, and she was glad when Horatio sat next to her and pulled her into a hug.

"Mmm, that's nice," she whispered as he ran a hand through her hair. She was rewarded with a chuckle and enjoyed the rumbling sound it created in Horatio's chest.

"So, how'd Wolfe go?" He asked her. Calleigh smiled.

"Surprisingly well. But you knew that, didn't you?"

"It's in his blood." There was silence for a while, before Calleigh spoke again.

"I do think he's insane, though."

"Oh?" Another laugh.

"Yeah. Alexx told me that when he realised that the vic was already dead when Daddy hit him, the only thing he said was a rather annoyed 'that means I'm missing the murder weapon'. Then when we went to retrieve it, he used his lunch as gator bait so he could go crawling around in a pipe."

"Sounds like he'll fit right in," Horatio smiled. He couldn't help it – he did like the young man.

-DT-

Horatio sat in his office, flipping through some school brochures. Granted it was a little early to be thinking about school for the twins, but he was already worried. He realised that it was probably just the flash-mob case that got to him, but it seemed that parents rarely knew what was going on at the schools their kids attended.

Maybe he should just home-school them.

-DT-

Over the next few weeks, Calleigh was assigned several cases with Ryan Wolfe. She liked the young man. He honestly wanted to do a good job, though he still seemed a little unsure of himself. She guessed that part of it was the fact that he was accustomed to working alone, and was still acclimatising to being part of a close-knit team.

She had noticed, however, that he and Eric kept shooting glances at each other, yet never managed to meed eyes. Calleigh had a sneaking suspicion that there was a fair amount of attraction between her two co-workers, which took her by surprise. Sure, Ryan set off her gaydar, but she'd never known Eric to show any interest in men.

Well, other than that time Horatio had photographed him snuggling with Speed.

And that time she'd noticed him checking out a fellow diver's backside.

And that time when he'd kissed Tyler for a dare.

Okay, maybe he did bat for both teams then. Calleigh smiled as she went back to work. Now if she could just get the two men to stop dancing around each other and admit the attraction.

-DT-

"No, Calleigh," Horatio pleaded. "Please no."

"Why not?" Calleigh asked as she finished dressing Rosie. "A steady relationship would be good for Eric, and Ryan needs an injection of self-confidence, which I'm sure Eric could give him. Why can't I set them up together?"

"Because IAB would have a fit," Horatio pointed out.

"I thought you were trying to persuade me NOT to get them together."

Horatio rolled his eyes. She did have a point though – the favourite game in the lab was 'screw with IAB'.

"Look, at least wait until Wolfe's found his feet," Horatio tried again. "The kid's still getting used to the lab, don't shake him up yet."

"Fine," Calleigh sighed as she put Rosie down. The little girl ran to the lounge room, where her brother was playing with some building blocks. "I'll wait a couple months."

"Thank you. So," Horatio's eyes took on a devilish glint, "have you guys hazed him yet?"

-DT-

"Hey guys," Ryan walked into the room where Eric was experimenting with acetone. "Alexx called up, said Richard Laken's on deck."

Calleigh looked at Eric, tilting her head a fraction in question. The taller man muffled a smirk in response. This was the perfect case.

"You go," Calleigh suggested to the newbie.

"To the autopsy?" Ryan queried. They'd never sent him to observe before.

"Yeah, to the autopsy," Eric muttered without turning. "What, are you scared?" He couldn't help but push the younger man a little. It was fun goading him.

"No, not at all," Ryan was more than a little confused. "I'll go. Thanks guys."

"Have fun," Calleigh cheerfully called as he turned and left.

"It's a head trauma, right?" Eric grinned.

"Uh-huh," Calleigh confirmed. The two friends shared a laugh – it was wrong to be mean, but it was so much fun. Plus, it was expected.

-DT-

The autopsy started well, and Ryan was feeling confident. Right up until Alexx pulled back the sheet.

"Alexx…"

"Hmm?" She didn't seem even slightly concerned.

"He doesn't have a head. Where'd the head go?" Alexx smiled at him, then nodded toward a boiling pot.

"I'm processing it," she said, like it was the most natural thing in the world. Come to think of it, to her it was perfectly natural.

"You're boiling it?" Now Ryan was part confused, part disturbed.

"Can't determine the type of murder weapon from the injuries to his arms and torso," Alexx explained as she moved over to the pot and pulled on heat resistant gloves. "But," she scooped out the skull, which still had half the flesh attached, "with a shattered mandible, depressed skull fractures and intracranial haemorrhaging, his head may tell us what hit him." She gave the skull a little shake before continuing. "I'm gonna remove the soft tissue, get a better look."

"The skin…" Ryan started, then swallowed and looked at Alexx, who was still smiling at the skull. "I think I understand why Calleigh and Delko sent me."

-DT-

"So, uh, how'd it go in autopsy?" Eric asked as he wandered in. Ryan glared at him for a moment, then shrugged.

"I handled it." He could see Eric trying not to smile, and gave in with a grin of his own. "So who hazed you?"

"Speedle," Eric responded. "A headless woman." The two men shared a look – apparently head-traumas were the traditional method of hazing in the lab. "It freaked me out a little too."

The two finished talking and Eric left, calling out a compliment over his shoulder. Ryan's head shot up, and he couldn't help feeling happy, even if he had sort of lied to the others.

The truth was, the autopsy hadn't bothered him in the slightest. He'd seen far worse before – in fact sometimes, with Nevyn's help, he'd inflicted far worse.

But he couldn't let on about his previous life. Not to these people. Not yet. So for now, he'd continue to be the green newbie who was unnerved by autopsy and unsure of himself.


	5. Chapter 5

Calleigh frowned as she felt Will's forehead. He had a fever, and was rather listless. He also kept turning his head away from the light, and she was starting to worry. An hour ago he had been fine, if a little upset when Horatio had left for work. She was due there herself fin another half-hour, but she didn't think she should leave Will at child care when he wasn't well.

Sighing, she picked up the phone and dialled a familiar number.

"Hey Alexx. Now I know this really isn't your specialty, but I'm kind of worried about Will… yeah, he's got a pretty high fever, and seems to be sensitive to light… his hands?" She quickly felt the boy's hands and feet. "Yeah, they're cold… pretty sudden, he was fine a couple hours ago… Alexx, should I be worried?"

-DT-

An hour later, Horatio finally got out of his meeting with the Director. He'd been holed up in that office for nearly two hours, and was frustrated. Pointless meetings, endless paperwork and petty politics took him away from his real job of protecting the people of Miami.

When he heard Calleigh's panicked message on his voice mail, however, all thoughts of his job were pushed from his mind and he raced to the hospital.

 _Not again,_ he prayed as he hit the sirens on the hummer. _Please God, don't take him away from me._

-DT-

Horatio froze in the doorway. Will was lying in a crib in the ICU, hooked up to an IV drip and some monitors he recognised from Holly's stay here. Calleigh sat next to him, Rosie asleep on her lap, holding his hand. She had tear stains on her cheeks, and Horatio could see how much this was tearing her apart.

"Calleigh," he whispered as he moved toward her. She looked up and started sobbing again.

"Oh God, Horatio. This can't be happening. He's just a baby!"

Horatio quickly closed the remaining distance and knelt by her chair, taking her hands in his. She cried quietly, not wanting to wake the children, and Horatio felt tears start to slide down his cheeks as well. After a moment, Calleigh got herself under control again, and Horatio felt strong enough to ask her what the diagnosis was.

"Meningitis," Calleigh whispered. "Horatio, they don't know if he's gonna make it. And even if he does, he's not gonna be our healthy little boy any more. There's so many things that could go wrong."

"I know," Horatio murmured, looking over at his son. His worst nightmare was coming true. One of his children was dying, and there was nothing he could do to save the young boy.

-DT-

Time passed. Horatio and Calleigh stayed at Will's bedside as doctors and nurses came and went. The IV bag was changed a few times as different antibiotics were tried. The good news was that he didn't seem to be deteriorating. The bad news was that he wasn't improving, either. Horatio wasn't sure which was worse – knowing that his son could die, or waiting around for the news.

Midday came, and with it Alexx, Eric and Ryan. The boys took Rosie for a while, saying that they'd get her some lunch and fresh air. Horatio was loath to let her out of his sight, but knew that they were right. Alexx looked over Will's charts, then went to speak to the doctors.

Alone with their son, Calleigh and Horatio looked at each other. They didn't know what to do, a feeling that neither of them was very familiar with. This was a situation that was completely out of their hands, and all they could do was hold on to William and pray that he would make it.

-DT-

It was nearly three when Will's fever broke. Calleigh leapt into Horatio's arms, laughing in delight, when the doctors told them that he was going to live.

Their relief, however, didn't last.

Will was taken away again for some tests, to see if there were going to be any lasting side-effects. One look at the doctor's face as he came back to them was enough to tell Horatio that it was bad news.

"I'm sorry, Mr and Mrs Caine. While there was no permanent brain damage, your son has lost his hearing. There's really nothing we can do to repair it. He's going to be deaf for the rest of his life."

Calleigh sat in shock, while Horatio reached out blindly and took her hand. Will was alive, but the nightmare was nowhere near over, and he wasn't sure if they could get through it.

-DT-

Calleigh sighed as she watched Rosie and Will playing together. It was so surreal. It had been a month since Will had lost his hearing, and although there were occasional tantrums, it was almost as if nothing had happened.

There were slight changes of course – Rosie would now show things to her brother instead of babbling at him, and Will had stopped speaking – but the siblings still played together constantly, almost as though Rosie's very presence prevented her brother from fretting about the silence his world had developed. It was more than a little eerie at times.

Whilst encouraging Rosie to speak, Calleigh and Horatio had started teaching both twins sign language. Will had already picked up some words, and Calleigh couldn't help the pride that surged through her. He'd been such an early talker that it was hard to see him lose his voice, but he seemed to be learning this new language just fine. Things were starting to settle down into what passed for normal in the Caine household – so naturally, Calleigh was tense. Things never stayed calm for long where her husband was involved.

-DT-

Ryan frowned a little, without opening his eyes. There was someone else in bed with him, and he was fairly sure he had gone to sleep alone. The body moved and pressed against him harder then, and he smiled. He recognised the shape, and the smell of the hair in his face. Nevyn.

He opened his eyes, and winced. She looked like hell. Several cuts and bruises adorned her face, with a particularly large bruise covering her shoulder. She'd probably dislocated it at some point over the past three months and hadn't bothered to see a doctor.

That also explained why she was in his bed, not her own. He'd cleaned her room after she'd gone, same as always, which included stripping the bed. She must have gotten in late last night, and couldn't be bothered making her own bed. After the amount of times they'd shared a bed, crawling in with him must've seemed the best solution.

As he debated whether or not to wake her, Nevyn stirred and opened her eyes. She threw her friend a lazy grin, and he knew that she was okay.

"You do realise that you're bleeding on my clean sheets, right?" He smiled at her.

"Yeah. And?" She raised an eyebrow in response.

"Never mind. You hungry? I'll make breakfast." Ryan received a nod and climbed out of bed. He padded downstairs and started to whip up some pancakes. As they were cooking, he heard Nevyn enter the kitchen and sit down heavily at the table.

"You were gone a while," he commented. "Rough job?"

"You could say that," she sighed. "It's good to be back home. So, I hear you got the job?"

"Yeah," Ryan grinned and flipped the pancakes. "I got the job. Been doing pretty well, the guys actually seem to be trying to give me a fair go. I've mostly been working with Calleigh Caine, she's really cool."

"Caine, huh? Any relation to the L.T.?" Nevyn wracked her brains, thinking of who worked in the lab.

"Yeah, his wife," Ryan confirmed.

"Oooh, office romance? Tell me more."

"I really don't know much," Ryan tried to summarise what he did know. "They've been married about six months, after having a break-up for a month or so. Got adopted twins just over fifteen months old, their birth mother was assaulted and died during the birth. The boy came down with meningitis about a month ago, lost his hearing. They seem to be dealing with it though."

"Damn… I'd hate to have their luck," Nevyn whistled.

"Yeah, H does tend to rub official people the wrong way, too. Speaking of which," Ryan paused as he served up the pancakes, "there's a little problem that you might be able to help with."

"Really?" His friend raised an eyebrow. "I'm all ears."

-DT-

Horatio looked around the chamber, puzzled. Judge Ratner had disappeared from this room three days ago – had gone to lunch and never returned – and the courthouse was in an uproar. He'd assigned Eric and Wolfe to this one, figuring that it would be best if neither he nor Calleigh were involved in this one. Theoretically, the two men could be impartial investigators. He just hoped that they wouldn't let him down.

After his wife had pointed out the growing attraction between Eric and Wolfe, Horatio had avoided assigning them to cases together. There was also the fact that Wolfe and Calleigh did work very well together. Now he'd get to see how the boys worked, and whether Calleigh was right.

Eric and Wolfe walked into the room then, the older man leading. They were grinning about something, but put on serious faces when they saw Horatio. He recognised the glint in Eric's eye – the tall Latino was in the mood to stir up trouble. The lieutenant suppressed a sigh. This was a hell of a case for Eric to be a stirrer on, but he was out of options.

"So, Judge Ratner?" Eric asked. "Isn't he the one who threatened to sink your solve ratio, H?"

"And killed Donna Scott," Horatio confirmed. "Now he's disappeared."

Eric and Ryan looked at each other, then Ryan shrugged.

"Took a sudden holiday?"

"Yeah, works for me," Eric agreed. The two then turned to leave, only to be interrupted by Horatio clearing his throat.

"Gentlemen…"

They sighed and turned around, both sporting a slight smile. Their boss shook his head, then pointed to the judge's desk with his sunglasses. The two CSIs hung their heads like scolded schoolboys, and went to work. Horatio stifled a smile and left the room. He and Calleigh had another case to work on.

-DT-

"Remind my why we're investigating this again?" Ryan asked after Horatio had gone. Eric smirked.

"Because otherwise people might think that H had something to do with it."

"I guess," Ryan nodded, "but we don't have a body, or any signs of a struggle. How do we know he hasn't just decided to take off?"

"Because Horatio's instincts are telling him otherwise," Eric shrugged. As far as he was concerned, that was enough. Ryan didn't look as convinced, but he got back to work anyway.

Ryan's mind, however, was racing. This was not good – they hadn't counted on Horatio's instincts. Things could go south very quickly.

"Hey, look at this," Eric called out then as he held up an appointment card. "Looks like we may have a clue. He was meeting for lunch with someone form the FBI. Doesn't say who. I wonder what they talked about."

Ryan carefully kept his expression blank.

"Well, maybe that's it. Maybe he's helping them with something."

Eric looked up at the other man, a question in his eyes.

"You okay, man? You don't seem very enthusiastic about solving this case."

"Yeah, I'm fine," Ryan hastened to make up for his mood. "I guess I'm just having a little trouble staying objective on this one."

"I hear ya," Eric turned back to his task, and Ryan sighed in relief. It seemed he'd bought it. "Why don't you go see if security has anything for us?"

"Yeah, sure," Ryan nodded and went out to track down a security guard. He'd have to tread carefully on this one – this was turning out to be a lot harder than he'd anticipated. Ah well – at least he was on the inside. And if things got too hairy, he had a few people he could call.

-DT-

"You get anything?" Horatio asked as he walked into the layout room, where Eric was leafing through papers.

"I don't know," the younger man sighed and ran a hand over his face. "We know that he was meeting with a member of the FBI for a lunch meeting, and never came back after that, but I'm being stonewalled. The Bureau's not giving me anything to work with. They're refusing to even give me the name of the agent he met with."

"Hmm. Interesting. Did you get anything from the security at the court house?"

"Yeah, Ryan managed to get the tape for the hallway outside Ratner's office. He and Tyler are going over it now." He paused, wondering whether or not to voice his concerns to his boss. He decided that it would be best to come clean – maybe the older investigator would have an idea.

"H, I think there's something up with Ryan. He just seems… I don't know, off? Like he's not quite trying his best on this one."

"Really?" Horatio raised an eyebrow. "That's surprising."

"Yeah. It's totally unlike him. I think he might know more than he's letting on, like he's covering for someone."

"Hmm. Don't say anything to him for now. This is a delicate case, maybe he's just treading carefully." Eric nodded. "Just… make sure you double check anything he tells you."

"Will do, H."

-DT-

"Do you really think Ryan had something to do with it?" Calleigh asked. She was currently leaning back against the kitchen counter, watching Horatio prepare dinner. They' wrapped up their case in record time, and were taking the evening for themselves and their family. Rosie and Will were playing in the lounge room, happily colouring in their books. They weren't very good yet, but they made up for it with determination.

"I don't know," Horatio frowned. "I certainly don't think that he did anything to Ratner himself. But I think he may know who is behind the disappearance, and he's covering for them. I just don't know why he'd risk his job to help whoever it is."

"Maybe he didn't know until after," Calleigh suggested. "Or maybe whoever it is has something on him."

"Maybe," Horatio agreed. "Whatever it is, I don't see how we can trust him to keep working the case. But at the same time, we can't pull him without a good reason. And right now, all we have is Eric and I feeling uneasy."

"It's tricky," Calleigh sighed. "How about we just don't think about it tonight?"

Horatio laughed, but nodded.

"As you wish, Sweetheart."

-DT-

Days passed, and they were no closer to finding Judge Ratner. Ryan didn't seem to mind when Eric surreptitiously checked his work – in fact, he seemed to be almost expecting it.

Soon, other cases started to pile up, and without a body, the Director decided to put the investigation on hold. He'd keep trying to talk to the FBI, but they were excellent at keeping their own secrets. Horatio didn't like it, but had to agree – until a body was found, there was nothing that they could do.

With a new case in front of him, Ryan seemed to go back to normal as well. He was back working with Calleigh more often than not, a situation which suited them both just fine. Ryan knew that he tended to get far too involved in chasing a certain aspect of a case, while Calleigh could multi-task and judge which tangent to follow. They worked well together.

Friday rolled around, and Calleigh and Eric were in the break room near the end of their shift.

"C'mon, Cal, we never do anything together any more. It's been months since you came out clubbing."

"I know, Eric, but what's the point of it? I'm happily married, I don't need to pick up. And if I want sex, all I have to do is ask my husband. Trust me, he's more than willing, and knows exactly how to satisfy me."

"…Too much information there, Cal. But you could just go to dance! You always loved the music."

"I guess… Eric, why are you so determined that I should come out tonight?"

"Because, uh…" Eric hung his head with a sheepish smile. "There's this girl who keeps calling me, and I said I've got a partner already. Please, Cal, save me from the nut-job! Pretend to be my girlfriend? I won't do anything inappropriate, I swear!"

"Eric…" Calleigh laughed. "I know I've done this for you before, but you have got to stop using that as an excuse to keep girls away."

"Please?" Eric gave her his best puppy-dog eyes, and she laughed again.

"Fine, fine, I'll do it. I'll even take off my wedding band and leave the engagement ring on. How's that?"

"Perfect. Meet me at Razed Club, ten o'clock."

"Okay," Calleigh sighed. "I'll see you then."

-DT-

"C'mon Lupus, please?" Nevyn begged. Ryan folded his arms and shook his head.

"Nev, I'm tired. I've been pulling late nights all week, and I just want to sleep tonight. I don't want to go clubbing – just go by yourself."

"But what's the fun in going out if I can't embarrass you?" The girl pointed out. "C'mon, we haven't gone clubbing in ages."

"Not my fault you were out of the country for three months."

"Lupus…"

"You're not letting this go, are you?" He asked with a sigh.

"Nope!" Nevyn responded gleefully. She had him, she knew it.

"Fine, I'll come clubbing. But only for a couple of hours, okay? I have to work tomorrow."

"Okay!" Nevyn climbed up off of Ryan's bed and ran down the hall to her own room to get changed. Ryan sighed and stood as well. He'd been looking forward to getting some sleep tonight, but it looked like that wasn't going to happen.

-DT-

Calleigh saw Eric standing outside the Club Razed, looking a little perturbed. A very attractive woman with dark hair was obviously flirting with him, and he just as obviously wasn't interested. Calleigh suppressed a giggle at her friend's discomfort, and walked up to him.

"Hey there Sweetie," she smiled up at Eric. The relief on his face was comical, as was the glare that she received from the other woman. "Sorry I'm late, traffic was a bitch."

"That's fine," Eric smiled and offered her his arm. "Shall we?"

Upon entering the club and escaping the girl, both friends burst into laughter.

"Oh, that was fun," Calleigh admitted. "I'd forgotten how good it feels to show up one of your conquests."

"Hey, she wasn't a conquest," Eric objected. "We hooked up once, and now she won't stop calling me."

"Fair enough…" Calleigh trailed off as something caught her eye. "Hey Eric, is that who I think it is?"

Eric turned to look, and his eyes widened. On the dance floor was Ryan, decked out all in black and red, looking very sexy as he danced with a girl who was a good six inches shorter than him. From the movements they were making, they either already knew each other very well, or they would by the time the night was over. Then Ryan looked over and caught sight of them, and the flash of panic was enough to make Eric's smirk return.

-DT-

"Oh no," Ryan muttered.

"What?" Nevyn asked, twisting around in his arms to see what had upset her friend.

"Calleigh and Delko just walked in. Of all the clubs in Miami, they decided to come here."

"So go say hi," Nevyn shrugged. "You're just clubbing, nothing wrong with that."

"Yeah, but this is very out of character for the Ryan they know. Plus, if I go over I'll have to introduce you, and I really don't want to scar them for life."

Nevyn smiled and smacked him upside the head, earning a grin in return.

"Okay, okay, let's go meet the co-workers."

Ryan started walking towards Eric and Calleigh, only to have Nevyn jump onto his back. He stumbled a little, but quickly recovered and kept walking. It wasn't the first time she'd decided that he needed to carry her without bothering to ask first.

He could see the other two CSIs grinning broadly at him and shrugged back.

"Hey guys," he nodded when he was close enough. "Wasn't expecting to see you here."

"Eric needed help ditching a girl," Calleigh shrugged. "And as usual, I got used."

Ryan smirked. That did sound very much like Eric. At the giggle from behind him, he remembered that they hadn't been introduced to Nevyn yet.

"Oh, yeah, Nev, these are my co-workers, Eric Delko and Calleigh Caine. Guys, this is Nevyn the pedo-bait." He received another smack upside the head, and shrugged it off good-naturedly.

"I'm not pedo-bait, Lupus! I'm about as old as you are."

"Yeah, but you look fifteen."

"I can't help that. I've just got good genetics, I guess."

Eric and Calleigh glanced at each other, smiling. This was a side of Ryan that they didn't get to see very often. He was calm and confident, and he'd obviously known the girl on his back for a while, if the bickering was any indication.

"So how do you two know each other?" Calleigh asked, her curiosity getting the better of her.

"We were kids together," Nevyn told her. "Met when we were… ten?"

"About that. And we've been driving each other nuts ever since." That earned him yet another smack. It seemed to Eric that these two were extremely physical with each other, though Ryan had always avoided touching people at work. Perhaps it was just that he didn't know them that well yet.

As Ryan scuffled a little with his friend and lowered her to the ground, Eric saw the young man's shirt slide off-centre, and glimpsed a tattoo just below his collar-bone, above his heart. He could only see half of it, but it looked like some sort of dog's head. He figured it was probably a wolf, and smirked. Maybe Ryan would show him the rest later, once he'd poured a few drinks down the kid's throat.

Calleigh, meanwhile, was examining Nevyn. It was an odd name, and she was certainly an odd girl. And she kept calling Ryan 'Lupus'. Calleigh knew that it was Latin for 'wolf', and guessed that it was probably a nick-name.

Ryan managed to get Nevyn off of his back so she could no longer easily hit him, and smiled. As much as he teased the tiny Scot, he did love her. She was like the sister he'd never had, and they were all each other had left in the world. He could see Calleigh appraising her, and really hoped that there wouldn't be trouble between them.

Then the blonde smiled, and Ryan knew that it was okay.

"So, you guys want a drink?" Nevyn asked the CSIs when she'd gotten her breath back. "My shout."

"Sure, beer for me," Eric nodded.

"I'll just stick to coke," Calleigh said ruefully. "Can't stay out too late, and I gotta drive back."

"Sure," Nevyn nodded. "A beer, a coke and two rocket fuels. Lupus, give me some money."

Ryan rolled his eyes at her, but handed over his wallet. She grinned back and went to the bar in search of booze, whilst the others snagged a table.

"You two looked good out there," Calleigh commented to Ryan. "How long have you been together?"

"Huh?" Ryan looked confused, then panicked. "Oh Hell no!" At the surprised looks he got, he grinned sheepishly. "Sorry. Nevyn and I aren't a couple. We've just known each other for so long we kind of forget that there are boundaries amongst normal people."

Calleigh shot a glance at Eric and noted with some satisfaction that he looked relieved. She'd caught the momentary flash of jealousy on his face earlier when Nevyn had jumped on Ryan. Now if she could just get him to admit his feelings out loud…

"How come we haven't seen her before?" Eric asked, oblivious to Calleigh's scheming.

"She works for an international company," Ryan shrugged. "She's only usually in Miami for a month or two at a time, then jets off somewhere else. I think she was just in India – only got back a week ago. Probably head off again in a couple of weeks."

"Here we go," Nevyn returned, carefully balancing four classes. "Drink up!"

"What's that?" Eric looked curiously at the glasses that Ryan and Nevyn held, and received too-innocent looks in return.

"This?" Ryan held up his glass. "It's called rocket fuel."

"Wanna try it?" Nevyn passed over her glass. Never one to back down from a challenge, Eric went to take a sip, but choked on the smell before the liquid could reach his mouth.

"Woo! I think I'm getting drunk just from the fumes! What's in this?"

"Well, it varies from club to club," Ryan explained with a grin. "Basically, you take a shot of every clear liquor you have, and pour it all into a glass. Then you drink it."

"You're meant to just tip your head back and pour it down," Nevyn commented as she took the drink back from Eric, "but we tend to drink it like lemonade." As if to demonstrate, she took a large sip of her drink, smiling at the dumbfounded looks she was getting. "What? I'm Scottish! And I spend a fair bit of time in Russia. I know how to drink."

"Okay, and your excuse?" Calleigh asked Ryan, a wry smile on her face. He shrugged.

"I spent my teenage years with her. It was either sacrifice my liver, or miss out on all the hijinks."

"Fair enough," the others nodded. Given how Ryan and Nevyn acted with each other, it seemed a perfectly reasonable selection.

-DT-

"I don't believe this…" Calleigh muttered, staring at her newspaper. Horatio paused as he set down the twins' breakfast and turned to look at her.

"What is it, Sweetheart?"

"Listen to this. 'Agent Farnell of the FBI today confirmed that Judge Ratner, head of the Miami-Dade Court House, was killed during an investigation into human trafficking.'" Horatio gaped at her, and she continued to read aloud. "'The Judge was apparently involved in moving under aged girls into Mexico under false pretences. The cell involved has been arrested, though several members were killed or injured when they resisted arrest.' Does that sound hinky to you?"

"…You're right. I don't believe it either," Horatio shook his head. "Something doesn't seem right about that. I may not have liked him, but I find it hard to believe that Ratner was involved in human smuggling."

"Not much we can do about it, though," Calleigh shrugged. "It's not like the FBI is going to let us look at the evidence."

"I suppose not," Horatio conceded. "But I still don't like it."

-DT-

"Did you see the paper this morning?" Ryan overheard Valera asking Calleigh. He smirked. The news was all over Miami by now, and the crime lab was in an uproar. Everyone knew about Judge Ratner's vendetta against Horatio, and they were all wondering if he had something to do with implicating the judge.

The truth was, in a broad sense he did. After all, if Horatio hadn't become personally involved in trying to bring the judge to justice, the FBI would probably have never run their own investigation into the man.

Eric saw Ryan's smirk, and wondered briefly again whether the young man knew more than he was letting on. Perhaps he knew someone inside the Bureau? Before he could think on it any further, however, his pager went off. He and Ryan were being sent to a crime scene.

-DT-

Calleigh sat at her desk in the Ballistics Lab, tapping a pen against her cheek thoughtfully. She was still convinced that Eric and Ryan should get together. There had been some tension building between them lately, and she was sure that a lot of it was due to the two of them wanting to drag each other to the nearest bed, but both being far too nervous to actually admit it.

It had been a couple of weeks since she'd met Nevyn, and it had explained a lot about the young man currently occupying her thoughts. The small Scot had started showing up at the lab now and then, much to Ryan's chagrin. She seemed to delight in embarrassing him, and calling out insults to him in full hearing of his superiors. Calleigh's favourite so far had been a couple of days ago. Nevyn had been annoyed, and shouted across the lab at the top of her lungs, "Oi bitch! You forgot to make my lunch!" Ryan had just sighed and tossed her his wallet so she could go buy something. Calleigh had started to notice that was a trend – she was sure that Nevyn was well paid, but within Miami, Ryan seemed to foot the bill for everything Nevyn-related.

The meeting of his friend and co-workers had apparently been good for him though – Ryan had started to come out of his shell at work, and he had started to relax more around the lab. He'd also begun to assert himself a little more, and Calleigh realised that maybe she should be talking to Ryan about making a move, not Eric.

She sighed and checked her watch again. Someone was meant to be bringing her some bullets to play with, and she was itching to get started. Finally there was a tap at the door, and she saw Ryan standing there with a couple of evidence bags.

"Hey Ryan," Calleigh nodded at him. Perfect.

"Hey Calleigh," Ryan nodded back. "Got the bullets for you. Sorry I didn't have time to wrap them."

"That's fine," she smiled, then paused. This was going to be delicate. "Hey, have you noticed something up with Eric in the last week or so?"

Ryan shrugged, his expression blank.

"Don't think so. Why?"

"Well, he seems to be a little antsy, and I thought there was some tension between you. Has something happened?"

"Nah," Ryan shook his head. "Just a little disagreement. Nothing serious, it'll blow over soon."

"Okay," Calleigh was concerned. She didn't want them arguing, she wanted them to be happy together. But she wasn't sure how to prod Ryan into making a move on their colleague.

Maybe she should stick to working on Eric.

-DT-

The next day, Ryan and Calleigh stood in the layout room, either side of the table. They had a suspect's clothes spread out between them and were trying to find a trace of blood on them. Eric then walked into the room and stood behind Ryan. Calleigh raised her eyes, then blinked.

"Uh, Eric?" She asked, still staring.

"Yeah?"

"Did you just… kiss Ryan's neck?"

"Yeah," Eric responded smugly and wrapped his arms around Ryan's waist, bending down to rest his head on the younger man's shoulder.

"I thought I told you not to do that at work," Ryan muttered and attempted to ignore him as he kept working.

"You did," Eric nodded. "Never said I'd cooperate though, did I?"

A smile escaped Ryan's control as he saw the look on Calleigh's face, and he rolled his eyes.

"Despite how little you think of us, Cal, we were aware of our own feelings. We just didn't want to feed the rumour mill just yet."

"Guess I screwed that up, didn't I?" Eric commented as he glimpsed Valera staring at them through the open door.

-DT-

"Hey Eric," Calleigh called out as she ducked under the yellow tape across the entrance to the house. "What have we got?"

"In here," the other CSI called out. Calleigh found her way to the kitchen, where Eric was bending over a dead body. "I'm thinking gang-related. These vics have very different clan tattoos, both gunned down by semi-automatics. It doesn't look professional, but it was damn effective."

"Yeah… wait, do you hear that?"

"Hear what?"

"That… that hissing…"

-DT-

Back at the lab, Horatio sat at his desk, talking to Ryan. They were just wrapping up a case and sorting out the paperwork, when the police radio on the desk crackled to life.

"Officer Brady requesting immediate backup… God, I'm hit! CSIs Delko and Caine are-" He was cut off by a gunshot.

Horatio and Ryan rose as one and ran for the hummer. They both knew where Calleigh and Eric had been called to that morning.

As Horatio drove, Ryan tried calling Eric's mobile. There was no answer, and he bit down the growing panic. He couldn't afford to lose control, not now. Over the radio they could hear every cop in the area scrambling to reach their stricken colleagues. Everyone knew that Brady was dead by now, but no one could tell what had happened to Calleigh or Eric.

Upon reaching the scene, Horatio and Ryan both drew their weapons and carefully exited the vehicle. They moved cautiously over to the police car, where Brady lay. He was certainly dead – there was a hole right between his eyes, along with one in his chest. From the blood, he'd already been dying when he'd called in for help. The shooter had then followed him to finish the job. Horatio glanced up – and couldn't see Ryan.

He nearly panicked, and looked around again. It took him several seconds to locate the young man, which surprised him. Wolfe was over by the door of the house, slowly leaning down to peer around the corner, placing his head well below its usual height. It seemed that Wolfe had some experience entering hostile premises.

Horatio didn't have time to ponder that though. His wife and colleague had been inside that house earlier, and could still be in there. He crept up behind Ryan, who glanced back over his shoulder and nodded. The two men snuck into the house and rapidly went from room to room, clearing the house and searching for their partners. But the only sign of them was an abandoned kit, lying on its side next to one of the dead gang members. Calleigh and Eric had disappeared.

Ryan swallowed hard as he took in the look on Horatio's face. It was as if the man's whole world was falling down, and Ryan swore to himself that he would find their lovers and bring them back.

-DT-

A whimper escaped Calleigh's lips as she tried to move. The cuffs were digging painfully into her wrists and ankles, and she could feel rope tying her knees together and her arms to her torso. She was totally immobilised, and blindfolded as well. There was a roaring in her ears and movement underneath her – wherever she was, she was in a vehicle of some sorts. The only thing that kept her from giving into panic was the knowledge that Horatio would be looking for her.

-DT-

Horatio was going over the kitchen thoroughly. Ryan left him to it and stepped outside to make a phone call. His boss quickly stepped over to the door to listen, but couldn't understand a word of what was being said. It was as if the younger man was speaking a mix of several different languages – he caught some Spanish, some French, and what sounded like some Russian and German mixed in there, as well as some that he didn't recognise at all. He couldn't make heads or tails of the whole thing.

"Nevyn," Ryan spoke quickly, "Cal et Eric sind gewesen secuestrado. Kailangan namin bewegen snel."

"Hai. Ik dirà el primero, et recevez la permission. Mød mig de el labordy ass ngay khi bạn có the." Nevyn didn't bother to ask for the details. She knew she'd find out soon enough.

Ryan flipped the phone shut and turned to go back into the kitchen, then paused. At his foot was a small lizard. He carefully bent down and picked it up, recognising the breed. If he was correct, then he had a pretty good idea of where his friend and lover were being held.

-DT-

Eric opened his eyes, blinking in the sudden light. He could see Calleigh lying next to him, bound in the same fashion. Her legs had been freed though, and he began to feel a sick sensation in his stomach. Their blindfolds had been removed, though Calleigh seemed to still be unconscious. He tried to call out to her, but couldn't get his voice to work properly. All he could manage was a grunt.

"Oh good," he heard a familiar voice behind him. "You're awake." Eric turned his head, wincing at the pain the small movement brought.

"Becca?" He managed to force the name out incredulously. It was the girl that Calleigh had scared away by pretending to be his girlfriend. He'd known she was a nut-job, but hadn't suspected anything like this.

"I'm glad you remember me," Becca's eyes glittered maliciously. "Let's see if your little slut there remembers who she stole you from." With that, she kicked Calleigh viciously in the stomach.

Calleigh's eyes flew open as she cried out in pain, and Eric could hear male laughter from all around them. Several men came into view then, and two of them grabbed Calleigh, pulling her to her feet. Suddenly, Eric was very afraid. Not for himself, but for his beautiful friend. He'd dragged her into this, and now-

His train of thought was cut off as the door to the room flew open, and two figures strode in, guns drawn. He recognised them immediately – Ryan and Nevyn.

Before anyone could react, four of the men fell down dead. Eric had the eerie feeling that he was in the middle of a movie. Ryan and Nevyn kept moving forward with such grace as they proceeded to shoot down all of the bikers. It was painfully obvious that they'd done this many times before.

Within minutes, there wasn't a single biker in the room still breathing. They had all gone down to the headshots inflicted with just one bullet to each man. Eric wasn't sure which of them had killed Becca, and didn't really care. He looked up at his lover's closed expression, trying to make sense of what had just happened. Calleigh had fallen to her knees, and seemed to be in a similar state of shock.

Ryan picked the locks on Eric's cuffs quickly and untied the rope binding him as well, Nevyn doing the same for Calleigh. The two captives stood warily, before Eric reached out for Ryan.

"I knew you'd find me," he whispered before claiming a kiss. Nevyn smiled in relief as her friend wrapped his arms around his boyfriend. They hadn't fucked things up beyond all repair this time. But there was still going to be a lot of explaining, she knew.

"Come on, guys," she tapped the boys on their shoulders. "Let's head back to CSI. I think it's time we explained a few things."

"I'll say," Calleigh muttered. As they headed out, she turned to Eric. "By the way, I think it only fair to warn you… I'm never pretending to be your girlfriend again."

"Fair enough," he nodded, his arm around Ryan's shoulder.

-DT-

Ryan and Nevyn were both silent on the way back to the lab. They glanced at each other now and then, but wouldn't answer any of the questions from their companions. Upon arriving at CSI, they went straight to Horatio's office.

When he saw his wife, Horatio whispered her name and pushed aside the other man in the room in his hurry to reach her. He crossed the room in three strides.

"Horatio!" Calleigh threw herself into his arms, letting him hold her. She didn't cry yet, though she was fairly sure she'd break down as soon as they got home.

Ryan and Nevyn both approached the other man who had been leaning against Horatio's desk. He looked a little older than Horatio, with rapidly greying hair. He was of average height and build, and it was easy to picture him in a boring office job.

His visitor's pass, however, said differently.

"Agent Nevyn," he nodded at her. "Mission accomplished?"

"Sir, yes sir!" Nevyn stood to attention, as did Ryan.

"Good. Stand down."

"Sir," she acknowledged, and she and Ryan both relaxed. The other three simply stared at the exchange, and Ryan knew that it was time to come clean.

"Agent Farnell? Permission to break cover please?"

"Granted," Farnell nodded. He'd read up on the crime lab, and knew that they could be trusted.

"What's going on?" Eric asked warily.

"You might want to sit down," Ryan sighed. "All of you. This is going to take a while."


	6. Chapter 6

Horatio sat behind his desk and pulled Calleigh onto his lap. He wasn't going to be letting her out of his sight any time soon. Eric sat on the edge of the desk. All three watched their young co-worker, who was looking at the floor. He really didn't know how to start, so Farnell decided to help him out.

"First, I want to make this clear: Yes, Lupus was an undercover agent for us, for nearly fifteen years. However, he chose to retire when one of the Directors decided that his OCD was a risk to his work. We inserted him into the police force here, but becoming a criminalist was his idea, and we had no part in helping him change professions. He hasn't been investigating any of you, or the lab itself."

"Fifteen years…" Eric blinked in surprise. "Ryan, you're twenty six. That means…"

"Yeah," Ryan nodded, and looked up. His expression was blank and he was strangely calm. "We told you that Nev and I met when we were ten. We met in a juvenile detention facility where we'd both been incarcerated for violent behaviour. We'd both been shunted around orphanages for several years, and had some… anger management issues, I guess you could say. We quickly became friends, though. And after a few months, we were approached by Farnell."

"I needed kids who we could trust to kill if they needed to," the older agent explained. "We were trying to break a ring of child traffickers, and could never get close enough to the men in charge. So we trained these two."

"You trained children as killers?" Horatio asked, his voice dangerously quiet. He was furious, and it took all of his will-power to refrain from smacking Farnell around. But Ryan just looked a little shifty and glanced at Nevyn, who shrugged.

"Well, that implies that neither of us had killed before then."

At the stunned expressions, Ryan sighed and elaborated.

"I'd killed one of the carers at the orphanage I was stuck in. He'd been hitting one of the younger girls, and I lost control. I jumped on his back and choked him out. Hence, the detention centre. And Nevyn…"

"I killed my mother," Nevyn stated matter of factly. "Bitch kidnapped me from my father and tried to turn me into her own personal slave, and I objected."

"You see," Farnell commented, "if we hadn't put them into law enforcement, these two would most likely have gone from detention centre to psychiatric hospital or jail. When they first came to us, neither of them understood that going around killing people you don't like is wrong. Actually, I'm still not sure that Nevyn understands that point." Nevyn rolled her eyes and grinned, while Farnell continued. "If anything, their training has allowed them to become functioning members of society."

"After that first mission," Ryan picked up the story, "we were given the choice to leave and be placed into a family somewhere, or stay with the FBI and go undercover again. We chose to stick with the Feds. It seemed the best place for us. We stayed together the whole time, even when we were sent into other countries. Most of the time, the only backup we had was each other. Hence why we're so close now."

Horatio nodded, and noticed that Nevyn had slipped her hand into Ryan's, lending him her strength. Calleigh tilted her head thoughtfully.

"What are your real names? I'm guessing that Lupus and Nevyn are codes."

"Yeah," Ryan nodded. "My real given name is Ryan, but we're not sure about my surname. My parents were never found. I always liked wolves as a kid, so they named me Lupus."

"I was born Shannyn McDermott," Nevyn said quietly, "but I stopped being her a long time ago. Now I'm Nevyn, which means no-one."

Eric, meanwhile, was trying to recall something.

"Hang on… Agent Farnell. You're the guy quoted in the paper… about… Judge Ratner…" He, Calleigh and Horatio all realised the implications and looked at Ryan, who shrugged.

"I… may have mentioned to Nev that Ratner was posing a problem. And we may have then… removed the problem in the manner we were trained to. And Farnell may have then decided to step in and cover up our involvement. But that's just a maybe."

Eric slapped a hand over his eyes while Calleigh groaned. Horatio seemed caught between condemning the two and applauding them. In the end, he just sighed.

"I thought you were told that killing someone just because you don't like them isn't socially acceptable."

"I didn't!" Ryan exclaimed, then smiled. "I asked Nevyn to kill him. And not because I didn't like him, though I'm happy to admit that I didn't, but because he posed a threat to society. Think about it – he'd threatened to drop your solve rate, meaning he'd find people not guilty if you were the one who caught them. What if he let a murderer go free just because he didn't like you? Would that be any better?"

Eric paused, then looked at Horatio.

"You know, H, I'm having a hard time disagreeing with that logic."

"Well," Farnell said as he prepared to leave, "I can't say that this hasn't been fun, but I have to get back to Washington. Nevyn, you ready for your next assignment?"

"Yes, sir," the girl nodded.

"Good, I'll see you at debriefing when you get back. Try not to blow the place up this time." Nevyn shrugged. She wasn't making any promises with regards to how she'd handle the situation. "Lupus, let me know if you need to relocate."

"Will do, Sir," Ryan stood back and allowed the older man to leave the room.

Once he was gone, silence descended. No one really knew what to say now. This wasn't exactly an everyday situation.

Ryan looked uncomfortable, and kept switching his gaze from the floor, to Nevyn, to Eric and back again. Nevyn, for her part, stood perfectly still and kept her eyes on Horatio. Eric was staring at his hands, lost in thought. Calleigh was staring off into space, trying to make sense of everything. And Horatio just kept watching Ryan and Nevyn. He was trying to decide whether or not Ryan would need to take Farnell up on the offer of relocation.

Eventually he sighed, breaking the tension in the room.

"Okay guys, head home. I expect you here bright and early tomorrow." He paused before continuing. "Not you though, Nevyn. You don't have to be here." She smiled at him and turned to leave with Ryan, when Horatio called them back.

"Oh, and Ryan?"

"Yeah Boss?" The young ex-agent braced himself.

"Pull a stunt like that again and I'll let the twins play with paint in your living room. On the carpet."

Ryan winced and nodded, whilst Nevyn burst out laughing. Calleigh and Eric smiled as well, the latter sliding off the desk in order to go home with his boyfriend.

When they were finally on their own, Calleigh turned on Horatio's lap and wrapped her arms around his neck. He gently rubbed his wife's back and smiled at her. He'd nearly lost her today, he knew, and it had terrified him. He pulled her closer and kissed her tenderly.

After a while, Calleigh drew back and smiled affectionately at her husband.

"Take me home, Handsome. I need to see the kids."

Horatio nodded as she climbed off his lap, and grabbed his keys. Technically he needed to write a report on the day's events… but that could wait. For now, he needed to be with his family.

-DT-

Calleigh smiled up at the sun, closing her eyes briefly. She and Horatio had taken the day off to spend with their children, and were currently on their way to a beach-side carnival. They parked the car a little way away and put the twins in their strollers. It was another beautiful day in Miami, and Calleigh was glad to be spending it outside.

The carnival wasn't overly crowded, but there were enough people to create a good atmosphere. Horatio smiled in contentment as he pushed his daughter. Rosie was happily chattering away, going silent every now and then when she would sign something to her brother. The twins were now nearly two years old, and both were excellent communicators.

First stop was, naturally, the duck-shoot. It was a long-standing rivalry between Horatio and Calleigh, seeing who could take down the most ducks. It was never a matter of skill really, as they were both expert shots, and evenly matched. The challenge came in distractions.

One of the rules was that they couldn't touch each other, but they could say anything they liked. And as far as the twins were concerned, all bets were off.

Horatio went first, lining up carefully. Calleigh leaned against the railing provocatively, and kept up a steady stream of innuendo and flirtations which very nearly made him miss the targets – but not quite. It wasn't until she mentioned the kids that his attention was really shaken.

"Oh, look, Rosie's immitatin' you."

Sure enough, Rosie had picked up a stick from next to her stroller and was holding like a rifle, aiming at the ducks as well. Horatio chuckled.

"God help me, there's going to be two Bullet Girls in the household."

Having managed to down nine out of ten ducks, Horatio relinquished the rifle to Calleigh and picked a prize. He decided on a doll, which he gave to Rosie before beginning the task of distracting his wife.

It wasn't easy. Calleigh had figured most of his tricks a long time ago. There was something new he hadn't tried yet, though.

"So… Nevyn's going to be surrogate mother for the boys."

"What!?" Calleigh's final shot went wide, and she turned to glare at her husband. Horatio had a smug smile on his face – it was a draw.

-DT-

The family happily wandered through the sideshows, having a go at some and just enjoying each other's company. Calleigh convinced Horatio to buy fairy floss for the twins, stating that a regular intake of sugar was necessary for their healthy and happy development.

Horatio told her that she could foot the bill for the dentist if she really believed that.

He had to admit, though, that they really seemed to be enjoying the sickly sweet and sticky confectionary. Calleigh, meanwhile, was happily crunching away at a toffee apple, and he had a giant lollipop. No one other than Calleigh knew about his fondness for the sweets, and even though she liked to tease him and make dirty comments about it, she would always buy him one if she passed a sweet shop.

As they all ate their glorified sugar, they looked out over the ocean, watching the families at play in the blue depths. Calleigh smiled over at Horatio fondly.

"This is a perfect day, Handsome. Thank you."

"We needed it," he shrugged and smiled back. "We haven't done much as a family lately."

"I know. I've missed it," she admitted truthfully. "Spending time with you and the twins… there's nothing I would rather be doing."

"Not even showing up the SWAT team at the firing range?" Horatio teased.

"Hmm…" Calleigh pretended to reconsider. "Well, I have to admit that that comes a pretty close second. But no, you guys beat that out."

"Amazing," Horatio murmured and leaned forward to steal a kiss from his wife, who giggled at him. The couple then looked down at their children, who were signing at each other with extremely sticky hands. Rosie and Will then swapped the remainder of their fairy floss, to taste the different flavours. Calleigh smiled – they didn't actually taste any different, they were just different colours. But her kids weren't content to take the adults' word for it. They needed to find out for themselves.

"Trust, but verify." Horatio's words echoed her thoughts. Apparently, their children were natural investigators.

-DT-

That evening as Calleigh laid her sleeping son into his bed, she wondered what the future would hold for her precious family. She was certain that she and Horatio would stay together through anything – they'd already been through so much that nothing else could separate them – but the fact remained that they worked in a very dangerous area. Granted Horatio had stopped taking as many risks as he used to, but there was always the possibility that one of these days, the twins would lose another of their parents.

Rosie, she knew, would be fine in years to come. She was already turning into a real daddy's girl, always turning first to her father. In return, Horatio was perfectly happy to indulge her. Not that he neglected Will at all, but he obviously found it difficult to be as strict with his daughter as he should have been.

Will didn't seem to mind. Despite his deafness, the little boy was growing up well. He'd run to either parent when he needed them, but it was clear that his world revolved around his sister. He looked to her for guidance and protection, which she was willing to provide. She also often acted as translator, telling people what he was signing, and signing their words to him. They made a great team, and Calleigh hoped that they would stay close as they matured.

Then there were Calleigh's parents. Her mother was still in Louisiana, surrounded by her friends. Calleigh visited her when she could, and had taken the twins up a couple of times. Kenwall was doing well too. He had been sober ever since he had run over the body and Ryan had cleared him of murder. Calleigh had given him an ultimatum after that – while he continued to drink, he wasn't going anywhere near her children.

There was also Yelina, who was a proud aunt to the twins, and one of Calleigh's few female friends. It often amazed her how quickly the Latina had accepted her as part of the family, but Yelina had plenty of love to go around.

Ray Jr. was doing better now. He had fallen in with some decent kids at school, and enjoyed spending time with his young cousins. Horatio still took him on special fishing trips now and then, but it looked like he was turning out just fine.

Madison and Suzie were also considered family. They hadn't yet told Yelina about Madison's real relation to the Caine family, and Calleigh wondered if that was going to come back and bite them one of these days. For now, though, the girls had been adopted as unofficial Caines.

It didn't stop there, though. Their family was bigger than that. Alexx, the mother of all mother hens, continued to cover them all with maternal love and attention. She had made it clear from the beginning that she would always be there for the unorthodox family.

As a surrogate brother to Calleigh, Eric was firmly ensconced in the twins' mind as their uncle. He didn't mind in the slightest. His relationship with Ryan was still going strong, even though they had run into a few rough patches. It was just taking some getting used to, for both of them. Eric hadn't been in a long-term relationship for many years, and Ryan wasn't used to being in one place for more than a couple of months. He was gradually getting used to the idea that there were people besides Nevyn that he could trust and be honest with, and in return he protected his newfound family with a fierceness that rivalled Horatio's.

And with Ryan, there was inevitably Nevyn. She was a firecracker, all right. Her undercover work meant that she was unreachable for most of the time, but she always seemed to know when Ryan needed her. Calleigh still hadn't worked out how she did that, but figured Farnell had something to do with it. The FBI agent hadn't appeared again since Ryan's past had been revealed, though she figured that they still kept in touch.

Thinking about Farnell and the circumstances of his first appearance, Calleigh smiled as she turned out the light and watched Will breathing peacefully. After Horatio had had a long talk with Ryan, the young CSI had promised to refrain from committing any further murders, or asking Nevyn to commit them for him. He was a lot more confident around the lab now, though he made sure that he never touched a suspect.

Calleigh shook her head to clear it and made her way back to the lunge room, where Horatio sat watching the television. From the way his eyelids were drooping, the day had apparently tired him out as well. Calleigh smiled and took his hand, drawing him to his feet as he turned off the TV set. Wordlessly, he followed her to their bed.

All in all, Calleigh reflected, life was good.

-DT-

"You sure this is a good idea, H?" Eric looked uncertain. "You know my track record when it comes to taking care of them."

"They've never actually come to harm with you. I'm sure you'll do just fine."

Horatio was leaving Rosie and Will with Eric and Ryan for the afternoon. Calleigh was in Washington for a few days at a forensic ballistics conference, and he'd been asked by the director to sit in on a couple of meetings. So, he'd volunteered his remaining two CSIs for the task of babysitting.

"Well, at least Nevyn isn't here," Ryan pointed out. "She'd end up swearing in front of them and getting us all in trouble." Eric shrugged.

"You obviously haven't heard what they learned the last time Speed babysat."

Ryan looked from his boyfriend to his boss, neither of whom seemed to be in the mood to elaborate, and shrugged. He then turned to the twins, and haltingly signed to them.

*You want play outside?* Everyone at the lab had picked up some signing in the past six months. It came in useful quite often, especially when they didn't want to say something in front of a suspect. They just had to be careful to conceal their hand movements in case they were understood.

Rosie and Will nodded eagerly. They liked playing at Ryan's house – the back yard was huge, with plenty of places to play hide and seek. There was also a large tree to which Eric had attached a couple of swings for them. It was just like a park with a house in front of it.

Horatio hugged his kids goodbye, then each twin took one of Ryan's hands as he led them out of the back door and down the steps leading to the yard. Eric and Horatio both smiled at the sight. Despite Ryan's own past, he was exceptionally good with kids.

-DT-

"So what do we do with them now?" Eric asked as he and Ryan sat together, watching the twins running around the yard happily.

"Who says we have to do anything?" Ryan countered. "They're having fun playing by themselves. They don't' need constant adult interaction. When they get bored, they'll let us know, and we'll figure something out then."

"Okay," Eric nodded. Ryan really was good at this, and his presence helped to calm the older man. Eric had never really been comfortable taking care of small children for extended periods of time. He was always afraid that he'd accidentally hurt them, or say something that would scar them for life. Ryan didn't seem to have such issues.

A thought occurred to Eric then, and he looked over at Ryan, suddenly unsure. He knew how much his boyfriend loved kids. What if he wanted some of his own? Would Ryan decide to go off with a girl who could give him a family? Where would that leave Eric?

Part of him knew that this line of thought was ridiculous, but he couldn't help himself. When it came to steady relationships, Eric hadn't had much experience. And most of what he did have was bad. He'd never been with someone who genuinely seemed to love him and want him to stick around. Most of the girls he'd had flings with in the past had been all too happy for him to leave and never call again. That, or they'd been picking out a wedding dress five minutes into the first date. He really wasn't good at finding the middle ground.

As if sensing his lover's dark train of thought, Ryan turned to Eric and smiled at him.

"I was thinking. How would you feel about us getting a dog?"

Eric blinked, a little confused, before shrugging. A dog? Who really cared about… oh. Ryan smirked as the look on Eric's face told him that he'd clicked. They might not be able to have kids together, but getting a dog was still pretty high on the commitment list. A goofy grin spread across his face, and Ryan laughed and leant in for a quick hug. He was in this for the long haul, and the sooner Eric realised that, the better.

They turned their eyes back to the twins, watching them now play with the toy cars Eric had dug out for them. Every now and then one child would sign something to the other, though the men were too far away to see what it was they were talking about.

"What sort of dog?" Eric asked suddenly, to a smile from Ryan.

"I dunno. I was thinking of getting something from the animal shelter."

"Okay," Eric nodded. "Just as long as it's not a small yappy thing. I can't stand them."

"Fair enough," Ryan nodded. "Oh, and you might want to consider actually moving in if we're going to do this together."

Eric froze, his arm around Ryan's shoulder. Move in? As in… living together? He swallowed carefully, making sure he didn't' blurt out something stupid. Granted he already spent most of his nights here, but he still had his apartment just in case Ryan got sick of him, or he did something really stupid and needed to lay low.

"Are you sure about that?" He tried for nonchalant, but wasn't sure he'd hit it. Ryan looked up and gave him an old-fashioned 'you're a bonehead' look, but there was a hint of insecurity in his eyes. Eric realised that Ryan was being casual about this so that if he said no, Ryan could tell himself that it wasn't a big deal. He was desperately trying not to pressure his normally commitment-shy boyfriend, and it was touching how much he cared.

Before Ryan could turn back to watching the twins, convinced that he'd messed up, Eric gave him a light kiss.

"Guess I'd better get used to seeing Nevyn naked then," he smiled, and received an answering smirk from his boyfriend.

-DT-

"I see they behaved themselves then," Horatio commented as Rosie and Will raced to give him a hug.

"Yeah, they were fine," Ryan nodded. "Spent most of the time playing outside. You know, you really should get them some outside play equipment for your place."

"Eventually," Horatio shrugged and put the kids back down. *You two ready to go?* He signed. He could see the way Eric and Ryan were looking at each other and stifled a grin. Best if he got the twins out of there as soon as he could. They didn't need to see that sort of thing just yet.

"Thanks for doing this," he told the boys on his way out, "and I'll see you at work tomorrow."

Almost as soon as he closed the front door behind him, Horatio could hear the sound of a body being pushed up against the wall. He smirked to himself and got the twins settled in the car. At least they had waited that long, he couldn't really ask more of them than that.

Besides, he was probably going to react the same when Calleigh got back home. He missed his wife.

-DT-

*Come on Will,* Calleigh signed to her son, *time to go. Don't want to be late for your first day of school.* The large, cheery smile hid how nervous she was. Horatio had already left to take Rosie to her school, which was further from the house but closer to the lab.

*I'm coming, I just need to fetch my bag.* Will was also very nervous. He'd never been on his own for a whole day, and was already missing his sister.

*Go and get it then. I'll wait by the door.* Calleigh watched as her son ran down the hall to his bedroom and picked up his school bag. He and Rosie now had separate rooms, though they spent as much time together as possible.

Will trudged back, not really wanting to go to the special school for the hearing impaired. He hadn't had much to do with other children before, even other deaf ones. And although the classes would be small, there would still be more kids than he was used to. And Rosie wouldn't be there to help him.

The drive to the school only took a few minutes, and Will had to admit to himself that it didn't look too bad. There was quite a large playground next to the building, with a large sand pit, several swing sets and a climbing frame. At least that would be fun – Will loved to climb. Rosie wasn't so keen on it, but she usually went along with him anyway.

Calleigh parked the car and took Will's hand as they made their way through the other arriving families to Will's new classroom. There they would meet up with his teacher again, and Calleigh hoped that he wouldn't fuss too much when she had to leave.

Inside the classroom, a pretty young teacher smiled and signed a greeting to them. Miss Henderson had lost her hearing as a teenager, though with a hearing aid she could function perfectly well in the hearing community, and had graduated from college with a degree in teaching special needs primary school children just a couple of years ago. She had a wonderful way with all children, and was good with nervous parents as well.

Will gave her a shy smile and a wave. He'd only met Miss Henderson once, but he liked her. She signed to him; she didn't just talk to the adults and let them translate. It didn't matter that he was a very good lip-reader; he liked it when people signed directly to him. Or at the very least, spoke directly to him so he could see their mouths properly.

As Calleigh put his bag away and went to talk to the teacher, Will saw a young girl sitting at one of the tables and sniffling. She had long, curly blonde hair falling loosely around her shoulders, and light blue eyes filled with tears. Her school uniform was slightly rumpled, as if she hadn't taken very good care of it so far. Will went over to see what was wrong.

*Are you okay?* He signed, after waving to get her attention. She shook her head.

*Miss Mummy.* Her signing wasn't as well developed, but Will could understand it easily.

*I miss my sister. We're twins, but she can hear, so she has to go to a different school.*

*Big brother goes Sacred Heart. Want go too. But me deaf, go here.*

*I'm Will. What's your name?*

*Jessie.*

*I'm going to go say goodbye to Mama, but I'll be back. Can I sit with you today?*

*Okay,* Jessie nodded shyly. She liked this boy. He was a lot better at signing than she was, and she wasn't sure about all the sings he used, but she could tell what he meant overall. She watched as he ran over to the pretty blonde lady and hugged her.

*I'll be fine, Mama. You'll be here to get me tonight?* Calleigh ruffled his dark red hair, smiling fondly at him.

*Of course I will, darling. You have fun, okay?*

*Okay.* With that he turned and made his way back to Jessie and sat down next to her. Calleigh was glad that he seemed to be settling in so quickly, and figured that it was just in his nature to help someone in need. It made him feel more comfortable. He'd seen his parents go out of their way to help people plenty of times before, and Calleigh certainly wasn't going to discourage it as a personal trait.

As she made her way back to the car, she wondered how Horatio and Rosie were getting on.

-DT-

As soon as she saw the imposing school building, Rosie's excited chatter ceased. She wasn't sure about this anymore. Horatio noticed the sudden silence and smiled back at his daughter as he shut off the engine. The little girl had never had a problem asserting herself before, and he was sure she'd be just fine now.

On the other hand, she'd always had to stick up for her brother in the past. She'd never come into contact with other children without him, and Horatio wondered how she would react to the new environment on her own.

"Daddy?" Rosie asked in a small voice as Horatio helped her out of the car and handed her backpack to her.

"Yes, sweetie?"

"How long do I have to stay here?"

"Today? You'll be here until three o'clock this afternoon."

"And you'll be here to pick me up as soon as I'm done?"

"Of course I will."

"But what if you get a case and have to interview a suspect? Or go chasing someone far away and can't get here in time?"

Horatio paused. His little girl was really worried about this. He stopped walking and knelt down so that they could look each other in the eye.

"Sweetie, did I ever let any of that stop me when you were in kindergarten?"

"No…" Rosie shook her head slowly. No matter what, Horatio and Calleigh always picked up their kids on time.

"And it won't stop me now, I promise. You and Will are the most important things in my life. Work can always wait. Understand?"

"Okay," Rosie nodded, a small smile returning to her face.

"Okay," Horatio confirmed and rose to his feet again. "Now let's go meet the rest of your class."

-DT-

Horatio and Calleigh pulled into the CSI car park within minutes of each other, and compared notes as they entered the building together. They agreed that there was nothing to worry about with Will, and hoped that after today Rosie would settle.

In the meantime, though, there was a case which demanded their full attention.

-DT-

At three o'clock, Rosie made her way to the front doors of the school with the rest of her class. She stood at the top of the steps for a moment, searching desperately, then she saw the tell-tale flash of red hair and broke into a large smile.

"Daddy!" She squealed as she ran to Horatio and threw herself into his arms. Her father picked her up and held her close in a bear-hug, making her giggle.

"Hi there sweetie. Did you have fun at school?"

"I guess," came the response, muffled as she buried her face in his shoulder. "But I don't wanna come back tomorrow."

"Why not?" Horatio asked in surprise as he carried her to the car. It wasn't the response he'd been expecting.

"…The lady kept telling us what to do all the time." Oh. Horatio smiled. Both of his children were very independent, Rosie especially so. He should have realised that structured lessons were going to be a pretty big culture shock for the little girl.

"I'm afraid that that's going to be something you'll have to get used to, sweetheart. There will always be someone telling you what to do, even when you get out of school and go to work. It's just how the world works."

"Then I'll become President," Rosie said confidently, startling her father. "No one tells him what to do."

"I'm afraid they do, sweetheart. It's called Congress. Not even the president can do whatever he wants all the time." He paused for a moment. "But there's nothing stopping you if that's what you really want to do."

"Hmm…" Rosie hummed in an imitation of her father, making him smile again. "Maybe I'll just be a vet instead."

"Fair enough," Horatio nodded. He much preferred the thought of Rosie as a vet to the idea of her as a politician. "Let's get back to the lab and see how Will's day was."

-DT-

*I really like Miss Henderson,* Will signed happily to his mother after waving goodbye to his new friend. *And Jessie too. School's fun!*

*I'm glad you feel like that,* Calleigh smiled. *What did you do today?*

*We learned a lot of new signs. Well, not new for me, but there were some that you and Daddy don't use a lot, so I got to practise them. And we talked about our families. I helped Jessie make some of the signs. Her parents don't spend much time signing with her, so she can't say everything she wants to yet. But I think she liked learning new things.*

He had to stop as they got to the car and Calleigh buckled him in. It was a necessary rule that the driver couldn't sign while they were in the car, but Will was itching to get out so he could tell his mother more about his day.

Eventually they arrived at the Crime Lab, and Will ran inside a few steps ahead of his mother. Paula waved at them as they ran up the steps to Horatio's office together.

Upon seeing each other, Rosie and Will ran to hug, then pulled away and started signing about their days. Their small hands were moving far too fast for the adults to keep up, so Calleigh went over to give her husband a kiss.

"Anything come up while we were gone?" She asked, referring to the case. Horatio smiled.

"Actually, Eric and Ryan managed to find the evidence to arrest our suspect. We just need you to finish the bullet comparison, and then we can all go home once the paperwork is finished."

"Excellent," Calleigh smiled broadly. "Are you taking Ray Jr. out tonight?" Ray Jr. had just gotten his learner permit, and Horatio took a great delight in teaching his nephew manoeuvres that weren't strictly necessary for a teenager – and weren't all strictly legal. But that had never stopped him from using them himself, and he was convinced that the more Ray Jr. knew about how to handle his car, the less likely he was to get killed in a crash.

"I was hoping to," Horatio nodded. "Is that okay?"

"Of course. I was thinking of inviting him and Yelina over for dinner anyway. You could take him out afterwards."

"Sounds like a plan."

"Cousin Ray's coming over?" Rosie asked excitedly. At Horatio's nod, she clapped her hands in delight. "Yay!" Will also looked pleased.

Both twins loved their older cousin, and he adored them in return. He babysat whenever Horatio and Calleigh had a case that lasted longer than expected, and was happy to play all sorts of games with them.

"I'll give Yelina a call," Calleigh said and turned to leave. "Then I'll be in Ballistics. I'll have the comparison done within the hour."

"That's my girl," Horatio nodded before kneeling to sign to his kids. *I have some work to finish. You two stay here, okay?*

*Okay Daddy,* the twins signed in unison. They had several toys and colouring books stashed in the office for those occasions when they had to stay at the Lab. They settled in to wait until it was time to go home.

-DT-

Ray Jr. smiled to himself as he sat at the dining room table, working on his English homework. There was a Cop Ball tonight, so he was babysitting the twins, and Suzie had been asked to attend an evening seminar, so Madison was under his care as well. Ray got along well with his younger half-sister. He'd had to give her several marrow transplants and blood transfusions when they were younger, and as a result they'd spent long hours in the hospital talking.

The cancer was now in remission, and hadn't posed a threat for several years, so things were looking good for the little girl. But she still called her big brother whenever she got into trouble, or just needed to talk. Yelina had never really warmed to Suzie after she'd found out about the relationship to her husband, but she'd also never gone out of her way to be hostile towards her. She also accepted her son's friendship with her husband's illegitimate daughter, even if it still hurt that he'd been unfaithful to her. She wasn't going to punish the innocent children for that.

Right now, Madison was also finishing her homework, but she was working on maths. Every now and then she'd ask Ray for help with a problem, or to check her answer. Truth be told, she was much better at maths than Ray had been at her age, and he was a little proud of the fact that it was partly because he would teach her things that were technically beyond her school level. He reasoned that as long as she didn't know it was too hard, she'd do her best to understand – and she usually did, after a new concept was explained a couple of times.

Rosie and Will, on the other hand, were playing on their Gameboys. They loved the text-based adventures that Ray had found cheap on EBay, and Horatio had figured that it was helping to improve their reading skills, so he didn't try to stop them. Every now and then one of them would come over to ask for help with a word, but mostly they could work things out for themselves. Ray smirked to himself – he really did have a very talented family.

After a while, he stretched and glanced at his watch. It was time for dinner. He rummaged around in the freezer and extracted two large pizza bases, then found some tomato paste, shredded cheese and various meats. Madison and the twins put down their projects and came to watch. Ray liked experimenting in the kitchen, and they always loved trying his random creations.

"What is it tonight, Ray?" Madison asked. Ray smiled.

"This one will be chicken, cheese and chocolate. This one is tomato, cheese, bacon, capsicum and salami."

"Wow… that sounds great!" Madison's eyes were wide in expectation. Rosie nodded in agreement as she signed to Will what they were going to be eating. The grin on his face was enough to express his delight.

Ray smirked at the reactions as he prepared the pizzas. He was certain that they would be a hit. First he prepared and put the bacon concoction into the oven, and finished the chicken and chocolate one while the first cooked. He figured that they could eat the pizzas one at a time, ending with the chocolaty goodness as a sort of desert.

True, Yelina would be horrified if she knew what they'd eaten, but Ray wasn't planning on leaving any evidence for her to find.

The oven timer rang and Ray pulled out the pizza. He quickly put the other pizza in to cook, and then sliced the first up. They all dug in, and Will gave Ray the thumbs-up sign. Rosie nodded in agreement.

"This is great, Ray! Thanks!"

"Yeah, this is awesome," Madison added her appreciation. Ray ducked his head and smiled in embarrassment. He hadn't gotten up the courage to tell anyone yet, but he really wanted to be a chef when he left school. He was already looking at getting an after-school job in a local restaurant, and hoped that his mother wouldn't mind. Then again, he already knew that she didn't want him to be a cop, so hopefully she'd be okay with it.

The pizza was gone within minutes, and they waited not-so-patiently for the second to finish cooking. This too was polished off rapidly.

"Wow…" Madison murmured as she licked the last of the chocolaty-cheesy goodness from her fingers. "That was amazing."

"Just don't tell the adults," Ray grinned and started to clean up. "If they find out how unhealthy that was I'll never be allowed to babysit you guys again."

*Our lips and fingers are sealed,* Will assured him silently.

*Thanks, Will,* Ray quickly signed back. *We kids have to stick together, right?*

*Right.* The twins then scampered back to the lounge room to play their games again. Madison stayed behind to help Ray with the dishes, even though there weren't many. After all, they'd eaten straight from the pizza trays while standing in the kitchen.

Leaving Madison to finish drying up, Ray turned to put away all the ingredients. He'd just finished when they heard a car pull up into the driveway. Madison ran out to peek through the window, then squealed in delight.

"Mum!" She threw open the door and ran to give her mother a hug.

"Hey there little girl," Suzie closed her eyes and returned the embrace. "You have fun tonight?"

"Yeah! Ray helped me with my homework, too, so I don't have any more work to do this weekend!"

"Thanks for that," Suzie smiled at Ray as she entered the house. "I never was much good at maths. I always preferred art and drama, things like that. Kinda explains why I'm in advertising, doesn't it?"

Suzie was still at the Agramont, but was now head of advertising for the whole chain. She'd even appeared in a few commercials for the hotel, and was doing well for herself. She'd also been off drugs ever since she'd first met Horatio – she wasn't going to risk returning to that life now that she had a daughter to take care of.

Madison gathered her things and said goodby to the twins while her mother and brother talked.

"You know, Ray," Suzie started thoughtfully, "Madison's always going on about what a great cook you are. You ever think about pursuing it?"

"I dunno," Ray shrugged, trying not to show how much he did want to. "I haven't really talked to anyone about it, or thought about it much."

"Well, I happen to know that the Agramont needs a new kitchen hand. I'm sure I could convince Chef Spencer to give you a chance, if you wanted to try it out."

Ray's breath caught in his through. This was his opportunity, and he turned hope-filled eyes to Suzie.

"You'd do that for me?"

"Of course," Suzie smiled and waved a hand breezily as if it were no big deal. "Like Horatio's always saying, we're family. And I think you really do want to cook, don't you?"

"Yeah," Ray admitted. She was a lot more observant than he'd given her credit for.

"Okay then," she nodded. "You talk to your mother and make sure she's okay with it, then give me a call. Don't wait too long though, there are lots of kids who'd love this job, and it needs to be filled quickly."

"I'll talk to her tonight," Ray promised, "and I'll give you a call tomorrow."

"Okay, I'll talk to you then. Come on, Madison," she called out to her daughter, "time to go home. Bye guys!"

With a wave to the twins, Suzie and Madison left for home. Ray locked the door behind them, still smiling.

Sure, being a kitchen hand would be hard work, but it was an opening. And if he did well, it could lead to holiday work as a junior chef. Maybe, anyway. At the very least, it would help him decide whether or not he really wanted to follow this as a career.

Taking notice of the time, Ray turned back to the twins and gently tapped their shoulders.

*Okay guys, bed time. Mum will not be impressed if you're still up when she gets back.* It had been decided that the twins would sleep there, and Horatio would come pick them up in the morning.

"Okay, just let us save,* Will signed back.

*No problem,* Ray nodded. They didn't need his supervision to get ready for bed. Ten minutes later they were both in their pyjamas and had returned to give Ray a goodnight hug.

He went up the stairs with them and tucked them up in the double bed in the spare room. They quickly snuggled down, Will clutching his old, faded Woofer, and Rosie cuddling her much-loved Dolly. Within minutes they were both fast asleep. Ray smiled as he went back to finish his homework. It was almost done; he just needed to double-check his spelling. Mrs Irwin was extremely strict about the proper use of spelling, punctuation and grammar.

Finally he was satisfied, and put his notebook back in his school bag. He could type it up tomorrow after the soccer game, and then he'd have Sunday free to play on the computer, and maybe go rent a movie. It looked like being a good weekend – and with a little luck, he'd have a job by the end of it.

-DT-

Horatio sighed and rubbed his eyes. He was getting bogged down in all the routines at work, and he was tired of it. He seemed to be facing the same criminals every day, dealing with the worst dregs of humanity on a regular basis, and not making any difference. Even the knowledge that he was bringing closure to victims and their families didn't seem to be enough anymore. He wasn't sure how much longer he could continue to do his job.

If he was honest with himself, a large part of his current discomfort was due to his age. After all, there were very few fifty one year old cops around, and every year he put off retirement made it more likely that he would make a mistake and be killed in the line of duty. But he couldn't imagine himself retiring. There were only so many fishing trips he could go on before he'd get bored. And other than looking after his family, he didn't really have a lot of hobbies. Maybe it was time to take something up.

He sighed again and turned back to his report, trying to concentrate. The thought occurred to him that he really needed a holiday. Maybe he'd wait until the school term was over, and take the twins on a road trip or something.

-DT-

"Is something wrong with H?" Nevyn asked Ryan. She was currently sitting on the table in the layout room, much to her friend's annoyance. He kept trying to lay the evidence out around her, and she took great delight in messing things up for him. She called it helping, he called it hindering.

"I don't really know," he shrugged. "I think he's mostly just suffering burnout. He and Calleigh can't usually get holidays at the same time, so he usually doesn't bother."

"Aw," Nevyn pouted. "I was hoping that it was something I could help with."

"Nope," Ryan laughed. "Besides, we're not allowed to 'help' Horatio with his political problems anymore."

"No, you're not allowed to help him out. He never said anything about me."

"Nevyn, you're not allowed to help me with my political problems," Horatio clarified as he walked into the room, a slight smile on his face.

He hadn't really been mad at the pair of them for disposing of Judge Ratner. After all, that was how they'd been trained to handle problems, and he'd done the same thing in the past. It was more the keeping it secret that he objected to. He couldn't watch their backs if he wasn't kept in the loop.

"If you say so, H," Nevyn grinned at him. She'd unofficially become part of the team, giving advice and tracking down criminals if the others were caught up in red tape. She also had a Horatio-like way of looking at problems to find unorthodox ways of dealing with them.

Horatio realised that, in a way, Nevyn had adopted him as a father-figure, and he always did his best to live up to her need for a stable, trustworthy male role-model. It wasn't always easy, but he'd kept trying, and had found that out of all the people Nevyn game into contact with, she would only follow orders that came from him or Farnell. Ryan never even attempted to order her about, though she would often follow his suggestions, especially if she could see the reasoning behind them. Anyone else, though, would be given the single fingered salute and told, in no uncertain terms, to forget it. She'd become a permanent member of their odd little family, and none of them would have it any other way.

-DT-

That night, Horatio sat outside watching the stars and thinking. He realised that he should talk to Calleigh about how he was feeling; he just wasn't sure what she could do about it. He wasn't even sure what the main problem was.

Inside, Calleigh finished putting her children to bed and returned to the kitchen to make some tea. She was more than a little worried about her husband. He seemed to be restless lately, and wasn't deriving his usual pleasure from showing up the criminals. He didn't seem to have the same passion for his job as he used to, and part of her worried that he was no longer happy with their life here, and wanted to move on.

Calleigh knew Horatio well enough to be certain that he wasn't going to leave her and the twins behind, but she wasn't sure if she was prepared to move somewhere else. Sure, if Horatio was really unhappy here she would follow him, but would it really be best for the whole family?

As she poured the boiling water into two mugs, Calleigh heard Yelina's voice in her ear and smiled. It was the same advice she'd given Calleigh five years ago – go talk to Horatio about it. You can sort anything out if you just talk to each other.

Well, it worked last time. So Calleigh finished making the tea and went outside. Handing one mug to Horatio, she sat down next to him and followed his gaze up to the heavens.

"So, you wanna talk about it?" She asked softly, and Horatio smiled. Trust Calleigh to know when something was wrong with him, and come talk about it. She was usually the one who initiated these conversations, just like she'd initiated the whole relationship.

"Hmm…" he hummed uncertainly. "I think I need a break. I'm getting far too old to be chasing criminals through Miami's seedy underworld." There was a hint of humour in his words, and Calleigh turned to laugh at him, then paused and really looked at her husband.

Most of the time, she still saw the Horatio of ten years ago when she looked at him. But he had aged, just as she had, and she was a little surprised to see just how old he looked. His face was much more careworn and lined now, though his boyish grin still broke through now and then, taking years off his appearance. His hair, while still bright red, was shot with grey. Unlike her, he couldn't be bothered dying it to cover the silver streaks.

Calleigh lowered her eyes to her tea and swirled it thoughtfully. It wasn't just his appearance, either. He was still much fitter than most men his age, but the fact was there – he was beginning to slow down, and had trouble with his joints quite often. He was still an excellent marksman, but it took several hours a week at the gun range to keep in such good shape. Maybe it was time for him to take a break from their physically demanding profession.

"What else would you do?" She asked, unable to look up. It was impossible to imagine Horatio in any other job.

"I don't know," he sighed. "Maybe I just need to take a holiday to rejuvenate. I could take the kids somewhere for a week or two."

"That could work," Calleigh nodded, "but I don't think it will address the real issue."

"No," Horatio agreed. "I just don't know. It's like… everything's going so well at the moment. I guess I'm just tensing up, waiting for the next big crisis. And I don't know if we can deal with whatever's coming."

"Oh, Horatio," Calleigh smiled fondly at him. "Just enjoy the peace while it lasts. And go talk to the director. Maybe he'll have an idea for when you can take a holiday."

"Okay, I'll do that." Horatio nodded and trained the last of his tea, then draped an arm around Calleigh's shoulder.

"Sweetheart?"

"Yeah?"

"I love you."

"I love you too, Handsome."

-FIN-


End file.
